Watching TV can double asthma risk for preschoolers

An estimated one in seven Australian children have asthma, which is more than most other countries.

UK researchers used 3000 children from a long-term project whose health was tracked from birth to 11 1/2. Of those who had no asthma at 3 1/2, 6 per cent developed symptoms by the age of 11.

Those who had watched TV for more than two hours a day at 3 1/2 were almost twice as likely to have developed symptoms than those who watched less.

But doctors believe the findings were due to the inactivity of the children, rather than watching TV itself.

TV viewing was used to indicate sedentary behaviour as the study was done in the mid-1990s before electronic games took hold.

Royal Children's Hospital Centre for Community Child Health deputy director Dr Jill Sewell said children had even more sedentary options now with electronic games. The study therefore highlighted how important it was for parents to keep their children active and minimise inactivity.

Victorian Asthma Foundation CEO Robin Ould said other factors also needed to be considered when it came to asthma, including allergens.

"The issues around this are complex and there may be many other factors at play," he said. The UK study by experts at Sheffield Children's Hospital and the Universities of Glasgow, Bristol and Bath used 3000 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Its authors said the results -- published in the respiratory medicine journal Thorax -- were complex but showed a clear relationship between asthma and early TV viewing.

Australian Institute of Family Studies research general manager Diana Smart said local studies found children who watched TV three or more hours a day had a higher likelihood of behavioural problems.

"While they're watching TV they're not doing other things that are important . . . exercising and playing and communicating with peers," she said.

source: http://www.news.com.au/

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