I think most parents these days have heard that you should limit how much television your children watch. Whether or not it is acted upon is an entirely different story.

But should it be considered a major health threat?

I don’t consider a limited amount of television watching a health threat. I think more important is how often you get the kids outside and playing. These are potentially separate issues, even if studies do show that obesity rates increase when children watch more television. It seems to me that if your kids get out and play for enough hours, the sedentary nature of watching television isn’t going to make them obese.

So now let’s look at the other impacts. People say that it is bad for children’s attention span. this one I find a little easier to believe. All you have to do is look at how most programs, especially children’s programs, are formatted.

But it still all comes down to parenting. If you kids do watch too much television or have in the past, what do you do to help them learn to focus better?

I just really have a problem with assuming that television is the only cause of these problems. Much more important to my way of thinking is what else parents do. If you aren’t doing anything to engage your children’s minds or to keep them active, of course they are going to have problems.

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