Health Effects on Children
Watching cartoons on a normal basis is fine but watching excessive amounts of cartoons
can be very detrimental to the health of a child. Excessive viewing of TV causes eye fatigue and
harms the abilities of the brain. Watching TV for long periods of time causes fatigue in eyes. This
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in the long run is not good, as some loss of eyesight occurs over time. Also, watching TV has an
effect on the mind as well. The following study shows that:
A study tested 4-year-old children’s attention, problem solving, self-regulation and other
executive function abilities after they watched one of two cartoons for nine minutes. A control
group of children received crayons and markers for free drawing for the same time period. The
children who watched a fast-paced cartoon featuring an animated kitchen sponge did
significantly worse on tests than the drawing group. There was no difference between the
drawing group and children who watched a slower-paced, realistic Public Broadcasting Service
cartoon about a typical preschool boy. 6
This study shows that children’s brain gets affected by fast paced cartoon shows. That’s
why educational programs have been recommended for children which build the mind slowly
and allow it to yield information systematically. Reading lengthy books for knowledge rather
than just obtaining it through flash media, is one of such effects of good brain development
I used to fantasize a lot about the cartoons that I used to watch. Always thinking that I can fly
high in the air, swing along the skyscrapers using the web or shoot a ka-meha-meha towards a
relentless enemy from outer space. These fantasies although had an amusement of their own,
distracted me from more pressing matters, such as my studies. Even during classes, I used to
wander into my own dream of fantasies. This particularly made me lose my concentration, which
resulted in bad grades.
Keeping in view the health of our children it is necessary to limit the amount of TV that they
watch. They should be allowing specified timings during a day to watch TV. The American
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Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends limited television for children and discourages it
altogether for children under age 2.