The Cure for Obesity, Diabetes, Insomnia, Depression, ADHD and Anti-Social Behavior

   by Maren Sederquist, MES, CSCS, CPT 

Okay, maybe not the single cure for obesity, diabetes, insomnia, depression, ADHD and anti-social behavior, but definitely a help, and a step in the right direction . . .

There are numerous studies correlating being overweight, a bully, depressed or not sleeping well with increased television watching. Decrease the amount of time you spend in front of the TV, and increase the amount of time you spend being active, interacting with your family and friends, reading and focusing on your own life instead of watching others on TV. Then, watch yourself lose weight, become healthier, have more energy, sleep better, learning something and having better social relationships with those around you.

A television habit is really hard to change, but as you replace TV with healthier habits, you begin to see you were missing, and you'll never be able to go back to being a couch potato without knowing the damage you're doing.

Just a sprinkling of the studies:

• A Harvard study of 50,000 women found the more TV women watched, the more likely they were to be overweight or to have Type 2 diabetes. Watching TV turned out to be the biggest risk factor of all - more than any other sedentary activity.
  Journal of the American Medical Association, April 2003
  http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/news/Watching_too_much_TV_makes_us_overweight__US_study
• Insomnia link to excess TV watching.
  Tim Utton, Daily Mail 10:05am 14th June 2004 
• As television came into our society, so did depression. It also seems as though there has been an increase in behavioral problems, beginning with the arrival of television. Even if a child is watching television that has no harmful content, "the result of removing a child from parents and social interaction, from reading, from playing, from sports, for three hours a day is overwhelming."
  Paul Kettl, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 155 No. 9, September 2001
  http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/gmis9829.htm
• Watching too much TV during the day or at bedtime often caused bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and anxiety around sleep, followed by shortened sleep duration.
  Pediatrics 1999 Sep;104(3):e27
• TV-watching lowers children's test scores.
  Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, July 2005
  
• Young kids who watch TV may not sleep as well.
  Pediatrics, October 2005.
• Television viewing and aggressive behavior during adolescence and adulthood study, found a significant association between the amount of time spent watching television during adolescence and early adulthood and the likelihood of subsequent aggressive acts against others.
  http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/kids_and_tv.html
• Many studies have found an association between kids watching a lot of TV, being inactive and overweight. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/kids_and_tv.html
• Children who view as little as 3 hours of television per day could be at risk of behavioral problems, depression and increased aggression.
  J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1998;37:1041-104
  http://www.mercola.com/1998/archive/heavy_tv.htm
• Four-year-olds watching the daily average (3.5 hours) were 25 percent more likely to become bullies.
  http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/newsletters/tv_statistics.htm
• A child who watches eight hours of television per day is 200 percent more likely to bully.
  http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/newsletters/tv_statistics.htm
• Researchers found that every hour of television watching as a toddler increased chances by 10 percent of developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms as a child.
  http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/newsletters/television_attention_deficit.htm