Kids 'should watch less telly'

Updated 14.40 Mon Apr 23 2007

Keywords: TV

The amount of television children watch should be regulated to prevent health and learning problems.

A leading psychologist wants government guidelines on how much time youngsters should spend in front of the box.

"Screen media must now be considered a major public health issue and reducing television viewing must become the new priority for child health" - Dr Aric Sigman

Dr Aric Sigman said he wanted to see parents given recommended daily amount guidelines, much as they are for salt, and said "screen media" was a major issue for public health.

Studies have shown excessive TV watching is linked to difficulty in sleeping, behavioural problems and increased obesity in children.

Dr Sigman said: "Screen media must now be considered a major public health issue and reducing television viewing must become the new priority for child health."

He rejected claims that setting down guidelines constitutes a "nanny state".

"Successive governments are quite willing to advise us on personal matters ranging from how many apples and oranges we should eat per day, grams of daily salt intake, units of alcohol, sun SPF factors and passive smoking, to our sexual habits and how and when we should smack our children," he said.

"Providing general guidance on whether infants should be watching television and how much time children should spend in front of the screen is hardly radical.

"While popular phrases such as 'striking a balance' or 'everything in moderation' may sound reassuringly sensible, one of the main obstacles in encouraging people to reduce their children's screen time is the vagueness of the terms 'moderation' and 'excessive'.

"We haven't been told what excessive actually means. Most of the damage linked to television screen viewing seems to occur beyond watching one to one-and-a-half hours per day, irrespective of the quality of the programme.

"Yet the average child watches three to five times this amount.

"Parents need an ideal reference point, even if they choose to ignore it or cannot adhere to it."

Dr Sigman, who is an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Institute of Biology, voiced his concerns at a Children and the Media conference at the House of Commons.