TV Portrayals of Smoking Influences Adults

Kids tend to start smoking more often when they are exposed to tobacco advertising. Tobacco use on television also seems to influence adults. Researchers found as smoking was shown less on prime time TV from 1955 to 2010 (five smoking instances per hour to 0.29 per hour), U.S. adults smoked less. This reduction was half…

Beware of Falling Televisions

The rate of children under 18 requiring emergency treatment from falling televisions has increased by 95.3%, and in those younger than 5 the increase was 125.5% over the past 22 years. The rate of injuries from a TV falling from a dresser, chest of drawers or armoire increased by 344% in the same period. The…

TV Romance and Your Marriage

If you believe that couples on TV are true to life, you will probably be less committed to your own marriage--and more likely to cheat on your spouse and not stick with your marriage. Researchers at Albion College surveyed 392 married individuals for their TV viewing habits, belief in how TV relationships are portrayed, along…

TV, Exercise and Depression

There are many studies that have demonstrated that the more you exercise the less likely you are to be depressed. A large study recently took a look at TV viewing and exercise in relationship to depression. The study followed nearly 50,000 nurses, ages 30-55, for a period of ten years. During this time they were periodically…

‘Screen-free’ Reaffirmed by the AAP

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a policy statement in 1999 that addressed only TV exposure by children younger than 2 years old. It has now updated this statement based on new evidence to include video programs and games. Key findings include the fact that evidence does not support the educational value of even…

Fixing Childhood Obesity

Today's children are likely to die younger than their parents will. Why? Because of the chronic diseases associated with obesity. Right now, 66% of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. And the kids are catching up -- 32% of children and teens (ages 2-19) are overweight or obese.It doesn’t take much to…

Sitting 4+ Hours A Day Can Be Deadly

A study of nearly 9000 Australians compared those who watched 2 hours or less of TV per day to those who watched more than 4 hours. Those watching the most had a 46% increased risk in death from all causes, and an 80% increased risk for death by cardiovascular disease. This connection stayed consistent even after…

TV Time Can Cut Life Short

Researchers in Australia followed the lifestyle habits of almost 9000 adults for more than six years. They found that each hour of daily TV viewing was connected with an 11% increased risk for death from all causes, an 18% higher risk for cardiovascular deaths, and even a 9% increase in death from cancer.PositiveTip: The human body was…

One in Five Toddlers Has Their Own TV

The Centers for Disease Control and the Oregon Public Health Division has revealed that almost one in five two year olds has a television in their bedroom.These children watch more than two hours of programming every day. Excessive exposure of infants to television is associated with impaired cognitive, language, and emotional development as well as…

Any House Rules on Media Make a Difference

Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer.But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours…