UK Daily Mail
Oct 11, 2010
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Children who spend too long in front of a computer or television screen suffer psychological damage, a new study warns today.
Scientists also found physical exercise does not ‘compensate’ for excessive screen time.
The study, on more than 1,000 children aged 10 and 11, revealed that those who watched a small amount of television are happier than those who don’t.
Researchers found no evidence that being sedentary had negative effects – but certain activities such as watching television do.
Dr Angie Page of the University of Bristol’s Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences and lead author for the study, recommended limiting children’s screen usage to under two hours per day.
She said: ‘People do have an ‘eat a carrot so you can have a cake’ idea about screen time and exercise but the study found it does not work like that.