TV link to addiction

Louise Duke finds her children behave better the less television they watch. She has a strict ‘‘no TV during weekdays’’ policy for Bodhi, 4, and Phoebe, 6.

A new University of Otago study shows excessive television viewing as a child can lead to a higher risk of tobacco use and gambling disorders in adulthood.

The researchers recommend an average limit of two hours of TV a day, with every hour over that potentially compounding the problems experienced later in life.

They used unique, follow-up data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, known as the Dunedin Study, to investigate how television viewing in childhood was related to the risk of having a substance use disorder or disordered gambling in adulthood.

The Dunedin Study, which began in 1975, has seen health researchers follow the same group of more than 1000 Dunedin-born children for decades.

It found excessive leisure time TV viewing between the ages of 5 and 15 could be a risk factor for later addiction disorders, study author Dr Helena McAnally said. ‘‘For some people, television viewing may be an early expression of an addictive disorder or may lead to later substance-related and other addictive disorders.’’

There were few programmes on television in the late 1970s to 80s, when the study’s cohort were children, so McAnally could not say whether the type of programming made any difference.

Duke said she let her kids watch their favourite shows, such as Paw Patrol or The Octonauts, on a Friday evening or a weekend morning, and tried to stick to one to two hours of viewing time.

‘‘I find the more TV they watch the worse behaved they are . . . If I warn them the TV is going off after this show, they usually listen – it all depends on the delivery.’’

Some days were harder than others, Duke said. ‘‘I’m tempted to put them in front of the TV so I can get dinner ready. But if I do, I find they tantrum more.’’

Study co-author Professor Bob Hancox said excessive viewing in childhood and adolescence was associated with a range of poorer health and wellbeing outcomes for adults. ‘‘But to our knowledge this research is among the first to assess how a common but potentially addictive behaviour, such as television viewing, is related to later substance disorder and disordered gambling.’’

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ previous recommendation of an average limit of two hours of screen time a day ‘‘may remain a reasonable guide’’ for children and teenagers, Hancox said. Anything over two hours was where researchers started to see ‘‘unintended effects’’, such as addiction issues, he said.

The study highlighted the potential need for public health guidance on digital health and wellbeing, he said.