Family Anatomy » television

TV and Computer Screen Time May Be Associated With High Blood Pressure in Young Children

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:00:45 +0000

CHICAGO – Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and “screen time” involving computer use, videos and video games appear to be associated with elevated blood pressure in children, independent of body composition, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The recent trend in obesity is a major public health concern and its effect on blood pressure is of particular concern, according to background information in the article. “The clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight youth suggests that risks may be immediate and not just indicative of potential future problems,” the authors write. Although elevated blood pressure is associated with genetic factors, healthy physical, dietary and sleep habits seem to be relevant contributors to blood pressure levels in children. However, there have not been any clear links between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in children younger than age 9.

David Martinez-Gomez, B.Sc., of Iowa State University, Ames, and the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain, and colleagues examined associations between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in 111 young children (57 boys and 54 girls ages 3 to 8). Sedentary behavior was determined by an accelerometer generally worn over the right hip and by parental reports stating the average time the children spent watching TV, playing video games, painting, sitting or taking part in other activities with low levels of physical activity each day for seven days. Time watching TV was defined as time spent watching TV, videotapes or DVDs. Computer use was defined as the time spent using a home computer or video game. Researchers defined screen time as the total amount of time each child spent using a TV, video, computer or video game. The children’s height, weight, fat mass and systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure were also measured.(...)
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© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blood pressure, Children, computer use, television, videogames
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

FA052 – Anatomy of Unplugging Your Kids, Pt. 2

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:17:13 +0000

Doctors Brian and Giuseppe continue their discussion with Dr. David Dutwin, author of “Uplug Your Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Active and Well-Adjusted Children in the Digital Age.” The discussion moves from television to computers, the internet, and social networks.

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© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dutwin, facebook, internet, television
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

FA051 – Anatomy of Unplugging Your Kids, Pt. 1

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:18:50 +0000

Doctors Brian and Giuseppe talk to Dr. David Dutwin about his book, “Uplug Your Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Active and Well-Adjusted Children in the Digital Age.” Part 1 focuses on kids and television.

Listen here:

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Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: All Ages, Dutwin, television
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

TV ratings fail to reflect cartoon violence

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:17:15 +0000

Researchers at Iowa State University are investigating aggression and kids’ television viewing. Their study, published in the March/April issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, compared the amount of violence in children’s shows according to their rating. Surprisingly, they found that shows deemed acceptable for children aged 7 and older (TV-Y7) contained three times as much violence as those rated for 14 year-olds (TV-14). Both contained more violence than PG-rated shows. The researchers concluded that the “Fantasy Violence” label for cartoons was misleading and may allow children access to more violent content. Perhaps more interesting were the findings about other types of aggression…(...)
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© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: aggression, Pre-Teen, television
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

Unhappy people watch more TV

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:55:53 +0000

Researchers at the University of Maryland investigated the activities of happy and unhappy people in a study published in the December 2008 issue of Social Indicators Research. John Robinson and Steven Martin examined data collected from 45,000 people over more than 35 years as part of the General Social Survey. They found that people who described themselves as being happy had less free time and engaged in more activities than those who were unhappy. Social activities, religious participation and newspaper reading were more likely to be reported by happy people, and this link remained even after accounting for other demographic factors.

Only one activity occurred more often among unhappy people: watching television. The authors surmised that there might be two possible reasons for this connection. Television might be rewarding in the short-term, but detrimental in the long-term because it replaces more positive activities. Another possibility is that people who are more depressed are more likely to watch television.

You can read more here. Then read the newspaper!

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© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: All Ages, happiness, sadness, television
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

TV doesn't fade into the background

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:33:05 +0000

A study in the July/August 2008 issue of Child Development reported that 75% of homes usually have the TV on in the background. For the experiment, children aged 1 to 3 played with age-appropriate toys. When televisions were on, the kids played less, even when they did not pay attention to the TV.

You can read more here.

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© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: play, television, tv
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

FA009 – Anatomy of Media Violence, Part 2

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:52:00 +0000

Doctor Brian talks about the impact of video games and the book, “Everything Bad Is Good For You.” AND there’s an interview with a super-secret surprise guest!

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Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for information only. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: episode, Everything Bad is Good For You, media, television, tv, video games, videogames, violence
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

FA008 – Anatomy of Media Violence, Part 1

Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:33:36 +0000

Doctors Brian, Giuseppe, and Richard talk about the effects of violence on TV and in video games.

Listen here:

… or get your free subscription in iTunes. If you use iTunes, you can leave a review!

Leave us a comment, or you can e-mail suggestions or questions to info@familyanatomy.com. Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/familyanatomy.

Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for information only. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

© Dr. Brian MacDonald C. Psych. for Family Anatomy, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: episode, media, television, tv, video games, videogames, violence
Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.