Watching television is still one of the easiest ways to keep children occupied, and I completely understand the appeal. Dinner has to be made, emails have to be answered and sometimes a parent just needs 20 quiet minutes that do not involve glitter glue.
But too much television, or too much screen time in general, can come with consequences for a child’s physical health, learning, sleep and emotional well-being. The goal is not to panic over every cartoon, but to pay attention to how much TV a child watches, what they are watching and what TV time is replacing.
One of the biggest concerns around too much television is that it tends to be a very sedentary activity. Children need time to run, climb, jump, play, build, dance, ride bikes and generally move their bodies in ways that make parents say, “Please be careful,” at least 14 times.
A 2007 study found that preschoolers who watched more than two hours of television per day were more likely to be overweight and had more body fat than children who watched less TV. More recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend that children and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, including moderate to vigorous activity.
There are a few different ways television may contribute to weight gain. First, time spent sitting in front of the TV can replace physical activity.
A 2011 systematic review found that children and teens who watched more than two hours of TV per day were less likely to engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity. That does not mean TV is the only reason a child is less active, but it does make sense: the more time spent sitting, the less time available for movement.
Second, TV often goes hand-in-hand with snacking. And let’s be honest, most kids are not pairing cartoons with cucumber slices and sparkling water.
Food marketing also plays a role. In a 2007 study in the journal Appetite, researchers showed children food and non-food advertisements, then offered them snack foods. After watching the food advertisements, the children ate significantly more than they did after watching non-food advertisements.
Another 2007 study in Social Science & Medicine found that children who watched TV more often and saw more commercials had more positive attitudes toward junk foods and consumed more of them. Reports from the World Health Organization also continue to stress that diets high in salt, added sugars and unhealthy fats can increase health risks, which is one reason food advertising aimed at children remains such a concern.
Television can also interfere with sleep, especially when it is watched close to bedtime or when children have a TV in the bedroom. Poor sleep can affect mood, appetite, attention and overall health, which is basically the child version of “everything feels harder today.”
Children who watch too much TV may have more trouble with attention, memory and school performance.
Not all screen time is exactly the same. A slow-paced, age-appropriate educational show watched with a parent is very different from hours of fast-paced videos playing in the background while a toddler is trying to learn how the world works.
Still, research suggests that too much TV, especially at younger ages, may interfere with cognitive development. A study published in Pediatrics found that when children watched just nine minutes of a fast-paced cartoon, they performed worse afterward on tests measuring executive function, including self-regulation and working memory.
TV viewing can also affect language development, particularly for babies and toddlers. In 2007, researchers in The Journal of Pediatrics found that babies ages 8 to 16 months who watched more baby videos scored lower on tests of language development.
This makes sense when you think about how children actually learn language. They learn best from back-and-forth interaction, facial expressions, repetition, tone of voice and an adult responding to them in real time.
Researchers for a 2007 publication in the Journal of Media Psychology found that toddlers were able to learn new words from adults speaking directly to them, but not from a children’s television program. In other words, the TV can talk to your child, but it cannot notice that your child just pointed to a dog and said “da!” and then build a whole little vocabulary moment around it.
The effects of early TV exposure can also be long-lasting. A 2010 study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that children who watched more TV at 29 months were less engaged at school and had lower math achievement at 10 years of age.
Current TV habits during adolescence can also impact school performance. Results of a 2007 study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine showed that teens who watched at least an hour of TV per day were more likely to have negative attitudes toward school and were at higher risk for poor grades and academic failure.
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend treating all media as forbidden fruit, which, as most parents know, can make it even more appealing. Instead, its family media plan encourages parents to set age-appropriate limits, protect sleep and physical activity, and choose high-quality content.
Children who watch too much television may also experience problems with mood, stress and emotional well-being.
Television can be relaxing in small doses, and sometimes a favorite show really does help a child decompress. But when screen time becomes the main coping tool, or when it replaces sleep, movement, outdoor play and connection with family or friends, that is where problems can show up.
A 2009 study in Pediatrics found that children who watched more than 2.7 hours of TV per day scored 24% higher on tests that measured psychological distress. A 2011 study in Preventive Medicine found similar results, reporting that adolescents with the most screen time were more likely to be depressed, anxious and dissatisfied with school.
Newer research continues to connect higher screen time with mental health concerns in children and teens, although the relationship is not always simple. A 2023 health advisory from the American Psychological Association notes that media use can affect adolescents differently depending on the child, the type of content, the amount of time spent and whether it disrupts sleep, schoolwork or relationships.
That last part matters. A child who watches a show with a parent, talks about it afterward and then goes outside to play is in a very different situation than a child who spends hours alone with endless autoplay and no real stopping point.
Content also matters. Violent, frightening or age-inappropriate shows can increase fear, aggression or anxiety in some children, especially younger children who may not be able to separate what is real from what is pretend.
And then there is the background TV problem. Even when a child is not actively watching, a TV that is always on can interrupt play, conversation and attention, which are basically the building blocks of childhood learning.
There is no perfect number that works for every family, every child and every day. That said, there are helpful guardrails.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests avoiding digital media for children younger than 18 months, except for video chatting. For children 18 to 24 months, parents who want to introduce media should choose high-quality programming and watch it with their child.
For children ages 2 to 5, the recommendation is to limit screen use to about one hour per day of high-quality programming. For older children, the focus shifts to consistent limits that make sure TV does not crowd out sleep, exercise, schoolwork, reading, hobbies or face-to-face social time.
The World Health Organization guidelines for children under 5 take a similar approach and recommend no sedentary screen time for children under age 1 and no more than one hour per day for children ages 2 to 4. Less is better, especially when screen time is replacing active play.
Television is not evil, and letting your child watch a show does not make you a bad parent. I promise, no one is handing out trophies for never using the remote.
The bigger issue is balance. Children do best when TV is a small part of the day, not the activity that organizes the day.
You can help protect your child from mental health complications and other negative effects of excessive television by encouraging physical activity, outdoor play, reading, creative play and regular family conversations. Physical activity may be especially protective; in the 2011 Preventive Medicine study, adolescents who engaged in vigorous physical activity were less likely to be depressed or dissatisfied with school.
A realistic goal is to keep screens out of bedrooms, avoid TV during meals, turn it off before bedtime and choose shows intentionally rather than letting autoplay run the household. When possible, watch with your child and talk about what you see, because kids learn more when adults are part of the experience.
Bottom line: keep TV limited, keep content age-appropriate and make sure your child’s day still has plenty of movement, sleep, conversation and plain old boredom. Boredom, by the way, is often where imagination finally gets a turn.
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