There are plenty of scary stories about the harmful effects excessive television viewing can have on a child’s development, so it essential to find a balance to staying safe. With our sensible safety tips – television can contribute to a healthy, balanced lifestyle, providing a useful source of education and fun.

A healthy lifestyle

One fear is that watching television will lead a child to be inactive, causing them to gain weight and experience health problems in later life. There is certainly a worrying trend towards increasing childhood obesity among the UK population. NHS data shows 16 per cent of children aged 2-15 were classed as obese in 2006, an increase from 11 per cent in 1995.

However, as long as a child’s routine includes regular exercise and a good diet, there is no reason why watching television should not be part of an active lifestyle. In fact, shows targeted at young children often encourage them to join in with dancing and other activities, which stimulate mental and emotional development. Programmes such as Lazytown on CBeebies are specifically designed to encourage children to live healthily.

Inappropriate content

Another concern is that young children will be exposed to inappropriate violent, sexual, or discriminatory content while watching television, and may copy this behaviour or be distressed by it. There is a simple and quick antidote to this: just monitor what your child is watching, by using channels you trust, previewing programmes or watching together. If this is not possible, at least watch the first few minutes of a new programme to gauge the tone.

Because children are particularly vulnerable to the suggestive power of advertising, junk food adverts around children’s programming were banned by Ofcom in 2006. A good way to further limit your child’s exposure to advertising is to pre-record programmes or purchase them on DVD. As an added bonus, you can use recordings to fit TV around your schedule instead of the other way around. Alternatively stick to the BBC for advert-free programmes.

Education

Another common worry is that watching too much television will slow a child’s development, as their time is spent watching TV instead of interacting with the world around them. This need not be the case. If the child watches television in moderation, and if TV time is balanced with other activities such as playing and reading, there is no risk of development being hindered.

Many children’s programmes encourage learning through amusing characters and storylines. There are often tie-in books and educational games available online. To help your child learn from television, watch programmes together and go over important points, such as new vocabulary, with them.

Summary

• Monitor what your child watches – be aware of what your child watches.
• Manage television viewing – place limits on when and what they can watch.
• Use television as part of a healthy lifestyle – balance TV with other activities.
• Watch with your child – try to make viewing a shared experience when you can.
• Talk together about the programme – help your child to make the most out of what they see and learn.
• Start as you mean to go on – from a young age, try to resist allowing your child to fall into negative habits, which will make things harder in the future.
• Take it one step at a time – even if your child is already set in his ways, don’t give up! Start by finding alternative activities to gradually reduce dependence.
• Encourage good habits by setting a good example.