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For children, watching too much television can be a double-edged sword. With staggering levels of childhood obesity and budget cuts at schools, that are effectively eliminating physical education classes, TV can only add to your children’s inactivity that cause these problems in the first place. Moreover, the more television your children watch will also expose them to commercials for unhealthy foods, further fueling the dilemma. This leaves many parents to the rescue, to set the necessary guidelines and boundaries as to how much time they can spend in front of the television. But how much television should your kids be allowed to watch?
Many doctors and researchers say that the amount of time your children are watching television should not be limited to only the TV. When you are trying to determine how much time they should be watching television you should also measure the time in front of other screens, like tablets, video games and personal computers. Many doctors say that children between the ages of 2 and 12 should only spend about 2 hours a day in from of any type of screen. They also say that children under 2 should not be allowed in from of any screen at all.
Today, children spend 20% longer in front of televisions than they did 10 years ago. On average, children spend about 4 hours and 49 minutes per day in from of the television – way above the recommended number.
It is also important to remember that not all TV is bad. Some programs might actually be educationally beneficial. Doctors and child psychologists say that parents should condition their children to enjoy these types of shows more than shows that might make them more aggressive. Yes, the more television shows your children watch with questionable behavior, the more it might cause them to imitate those behaviors at school or at home.
While getting your children to “cut down” on television might be difficult, it is important to remember that choosing the recommended dose of TV is all about how much physical exercise they are getting. Television should be a positive reward for bike riding or doing something physically active. You should also never let your children watch TV in the day time so that you can teach them to spend the daylight hours doing what kids do best: playing outside.
Television also shouldn’t be the only non-physical indoor activity that children are exposed to. There are loads of ways to entertain children while also providing intellectual stimulation. Simple games such as printable word searches for kids, puzzles, crafts, and coloring are great activities that teach your children to entertain themselves and help develop their minds.
When you are thinking about how much television your children should be allowed to watch, you should also think about how much they are eating as well. Eating overly fatty foods and spending hours in front of the television is a recipe for obesity and negative health affects. Nobody wants their own children to turn into couch potatoes. Many researchers also say that children who are allowed to watch unlimited amount of television as youngsters might not be able to control themselves as adults.
Luckily, there are many ways to get help in making your decisions in deciding how much TV your children should be watching. Child psychologists can also work with you and your children to discuss their viewing habits and can help get them to watch less television. Parents can also read any of the plethora of other online articles, to find the best way to implement the right television viewing habits for their kids. As a parent, monitoring your children’s television watching habits will make them more healthy, productive and active so that they can grow up to be successful adults. That’s the point in raising them well, right?
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