Teenagers who spend hours in front of the television may have a poorer diet (日常饮食) as young adults.
A study, which included nearly 1, 400 high school students, found those who watched TV for five hours or more per day had less healthy diets than peers (同龄人) five years later. Why does this happen? Should the parents take any measures?
On the one hand, people who spend a lot of time in front of the TV, especially teenagers, may snack more, and that may influence their long-term diet quality. On the other hand, TV ads for fast food, sweets and snacks tempt teenagers to eat more of those foods. And TV time might also replace exercise time for some kids.
Lead researcher Dr. Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Reuters Health a clear relationship between TV time during high school and diet quality in young adulthood. While the heaviest TV viewers were eating the most junk food, those who'd watched less than two hours per day had the highest intake (摄入量) of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high-calcium food. In her opinion, parents should limit and monitor TV viewing.
As far as I am concerned, children should watch not more than two hours of television per day. And parents should set a good example by eating right, being physically active and controlling their own TV time.
