Watching too much television may distort the hormonal balance of adolescents and push many of them into early puberty. Italian researchers found children denied access to television for just one week experienced a 30 percent jump in their melatonin levels. Not only will melatonin levels contribute to appopriate sexual development but it is also key for cancer prevention and many other important bodily functions.
One of the other major factors with watching TV is the promotion of childhood obesity. I will be co-authoring a book with Dr. Ben Lerner on the childhood obesity epidemic and this will be a major part of the story.
BBC News June 28, 2004