TWO HOURS OF TELEVISION A DAY DOUBLE THE RISK OF CHILDHOOD ASTHMA

They will believe far-fetched that watching television can influence the development of asthma in children, however a study published in Thorax magazine says so.

After investigating the respiratory health of 3,000 children, scientists at the University of Glasgow claim that the little ones who watch two hours of television a day double the risk of developing asthma in childhood.

The key is in inactivity. Lack of exercise and sedentary life, whose one of the great allies is television, ultimately influence the respiratory capacity of children by predisposing them to suffer disorders in respiratory capacity and bronchial musculature.

The study analyzed 3,000 children who did not suffer asthmatic crises at the beginning of the investigation and recorded the hours spent in front of the TV after 3 and a half years. By the age of 11 and a half, 6% of the children had developed asthma.

Of the children who developed asthma, 2% did not watch television, 20% watched television for less than 1 hour a day, 34% between 1-2 hours a day, and 44% for more than 2 hours a day.

The fact that they watched two hours of television a day means for the researchers that the children did not practice enough physical activity conditioning the distention of the lungs. Experts say that physical exercise is essential to prevent asthma, as well as to treat it in children who have already developed it.