New Delhi: TV addiction is leading to social, psychological and physiological problems amongst children.
While some children prefer to have fun while playing outside others are not so keen to take part in physical activities. They prefer spending their leisure time watching TV.
Outdoor activity is something that eight-year-old Nayan is clearly missing. He spends his time indoors watching TV even when others children of his age are busy playing their favourite sports outside in the evening,
"It's too hot outside. TV is more fun," says Nayan.
Nayan spends 3 hours in front of the TV and is not alone.
Statistics show that the average Indian child is glued to the idiot box for as much as four hours every day and on weekends it's almost double the time.
What's worse is that the busy working parents don’t mind the fact that TV is becoming a convenient electronic babysitter.
"Our house is on the main road and there is no park nearby. So I have to take them out and since I don't have much time, I can't take them out everyday," Shanta Roychowdhry, a mother, says
Adding to the problem is a shrinking urban space. Nayan and his friends live in CR Park and there are no parks nearby.
"TV watching and everything electronic really happens at the press of a button where there is no waiting, there is no negotiations. How do you take turns, how do you wait patiently for somebody to do what they are doing and them wait for your turn. All those things start getting affected," Dr Amit Sen, a psychiatrist, says.
Glued to the TV the kids are also facing problems like attention difficulty, low frustration tolerance, temper tantrums and eating disorder.
TV may now be a necessary evil, but what parents need is to strike a balance by taking out atleast one hour of playtime every day.
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