By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Wake up kids ― if you want to be as tall and lean as models or actors seen on television and online, turn those TVs and computers off. That's the message from research that found that children and teenagers using such gadgets for more than four hours a day could be storing up future health problems.
The National Internet Development Agency says that Koreans watch TV for about three hours a day and youngsters surf the Internet for 4.3 hours day. It is thought that the overuse could pose serious risks to their health, particularly with regards to their growth development.
Australian media brought to light reports by Dr. Louise Hardy, University of Sydney's NSW Center for Overweight and Obesity, which said that girls aged between 13 and 15 who spent more than four hours a day in front of a screen were 50 percent less fit than their peers who spent a maximum of two hours.
Her research, which surveyed 2,750 youths aged between 11 and 15, also found that two-third of the respondents were using the devices for more than two hours a day.
British newspaper the Daily Telegraph quoted Dr. Hardy as saying that high levels of sedentary behavior in children could not only lead to obesity or reduced fitness, but also influence healthy bone growth at a critical time in their development.
``It is important to understand most children need to exchange excess 'sitting time' for 'active time,''' said Dr. Harvey, who has seen the research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
``Get televisions and computers out of your child's bedroom, turn off the TV during mealtimes and instigate rules around screen use. No screen days would be even better.''
Awareness of the dangers are now growing in Korea as experts warn about spinal pain, lack of appetite, irregular secretion of growth hormones, as well as addiction-like symptoms related to excessive use of gadgets.
A civic group called ``Group to Quit Watching TV'' is launching a campaign aimed at discouraging TV, as the name suggests. It has designated the first week of May as 'No TV Watching Day,' asking people to turn off their TVs for a week.
Seo Yeong-suk, the group leader, said that watching too much TV damages ones health and takes away family time. ``Turning off the electronic stuff will upgrade your quality of life,''' she said.