TV hours ‘raise risk of anti-social behaviour’

The 15 per cent of the age group who watch more than three hours of TV a day are at an increased risk of developing behaviours such as fighting, stealing or disobedience, a study found.

The research, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, examined more than 11,000 UK children when they were aged five and seven.

The children’s parents were asked to complete a “strengths and difficulties questionnaire” to describe how well adjusted their children were. They were also asked to report how much time their children spent watching TV and playing computer games at the age of five.

The researchers found that almost two-thirds of five-year-olds watched television between one and three hours a day, 15 per cent watched more than three hours and less than two per cent watched no television at all.

Researchers found watching TV for three or more hours a day led to a small but significant increased risk of anti-social behaviours in children aged five to seven.