It’s clear that people tend to watch more TV as they age with the only dip occurring between 2-11 and 12-17 years old. Some interesting data points help contextualize this:
• Teens between 12 and 17 – the group that watches the least amount of TV - watch a staggering 23 hours and 24 minutes of TV a week. That works out to 3.3 hours daily – so basically 13.9%, or more than 1/8th of their life watching TV.
• Adults 65 and older watch the most TV averaging 47 hours and 21 minutes per week. That works out to 6.7 hours of TV per day, or 28.1%, more than 1/4 of their life watching TV – more than double the lowest age group.
Possible effects of this massive amount of time watching television ( most commonly seen as issues to children but can apply to all)
=The number of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese has doubled in the past 20 years in the U.S - A number of studies have linked being overweight with TV watching, because it both reduces children's physical activity and subjects them to ads promoting foods with high fat and sugar content.
= About 85% of the children who develop diabetes are overweight, according to the AAP, making excess weight a strong risk factor for this chronic illness.
Other medical problems found in overweight children include high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol, and depression and low self-esteem.
There is an 80% chance that obese teenagers will grow into obese adults and face all the serious health effects and life-span risks associated with that condition.
= TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes.
