Some people agree some disagree but the fact of the matter is that Television is part of our everyday lives. According to ACNielson every day over 3.7 million people in the United Kingdom watch television. Research shows that children age 2 to 5 watch an average of 25 hours of television a week. Those aged 6 to 11 average 22 hours per week, and 12 to 17, 23 hours per week. At this rate which is only average children spend as much time watching television as they do in school.
According to ACNielson men who watch 3 or more hours of television a day are twice as likely to be obese. Watching television slows down the body’s metabolism. But then again television and other electronic things are making young people more and more informed. Also another drawback of the digital age is that people spend far too much time on the gadgets and do hardly any exercise therefore this is resulting in obesity.
Television has a major impact on children’s attitude and behavior, a survey called kids’ take on media conducted in 2003 shows that watching television is a daily past time for 75% of Canadian, both boys and girls aged from 6-11. Television can affect a child’s learning and how they do in school if it cuts into activities such as reading, writing and taking part in sports. Television has been proven to be a very important factor in childhood obesity simply because more active activities are being replaced by television. Another way television is contributing to childhood obesity is that it markets “Junk food” to young people. According to UK paediatric society, most food advertisements on children’s TV shows is for unhealthy foods such as fast-food and sweets and adverts for healthy food make up only 4% of those shown.
TV is also a good thing in some ways as it keeps us informed on what is happening around the world everyday with programmes such as the News but watching over 20 hours of television a week is over the recommended amount. Research shows that children spend more time watching television than doing any other activity apart from sleeping. The average child today will watch an estimated 7-10 years worth of television by the time that they reach 70 years old. Children who spend time watching television instead of running jumping and playing are obviously much more likely to be overweight. Not only do children watch TV adverts promoting unhealthy, sugary and fatty-foods, but they also tend to snack more while watching television than they would otherwise.
In conclusion I think that TV does make us lazy but only if we watch too much of it. But sometimes it can be a good thing as we learn from it by programmes such as the news and documentaries. Therefore I don’t think television is making us lazy.