Too much time watching television has been linked to many problems in children including social anxiety and obesity, but now it has been linked to depression as well. A new study claims that playing too many computer games or watching too much television will eventually lower the self-esteem of youngsters leading to depression.
According to the study that was published this week by the charity Public Health England, children that are in front of computer screens and televisions too much are more likely to have emotional problems coupled with much lower self-esteem. The report also found that spending more than four hours a day in front of the television led to depression and anxiety because it limited the amount of real social interaction a child was able to have along with physical movement.
Director of health and wellbeing at PHE, Professor Kevin Fenton, stated that the more time that a child spends watching TV the more harmful it is going to be on their development creating emotional and behavior issues that otherwise would not be present. He added that this is due to the fact that an increase in screen time reduces social interaction with family and friends and does not allow enough time for physical activity. Both physical activity and social interaction are important for reducing childhood anxiety.
The report also found that British children spend more time watching television then children in other Western European countries with about 62% of 11 year olds watching over two hours of television a day on weekdays and 71% of 13 year olds watching over two hours of television a day. On the other hand, in countries such as Switzerland for both age groups the figure is under 35%.
Fenton stated that every hour of additional TV viewing increases the risk that a child is going to have lower self-esteem later in life and more socio-emotional problems as they grow.
