1. Children face increasing risk of health problems such as obesity and eating disorders when they are in easy reach of all kinds of media.
2. On average,American children and teens spend more than six hours a day with media such as TV,computers,Internet,video games and VCR or DVD players- -more time than they spend per day receiving formal classroom lessons,according to the study.
3. “The media does contribute to many health and social problems,”Dr Strasburger said.
4. Such problems include violence,drugs,obesity and eating disorders,he said.
5. He called on parents to limit children’s time to use computers and watch TV.
6. Parents and teachers need to be told about these problems,and students should be educated about the media in schools,he said.
7. “Parents have to change the way their children reach the media-not permitting TV sets or computers in children’s bedrooms,and limiting screen time to less than two hours per day”,said Dr Strasburger.
8. Research has shown that media effects are very bad when there is a TV set in the child’s bedroom,according to the study.