Official News page 10

REAL LIFE NEWS: TELLY CAUSES ASTHMA!

by Hazed

Shock news! Young children who watch more than two hours of television a day double their risk of developing asthma, according to a new study in the UK. So TV really is bad for you and should be banned immediately.

Actually, it's not as clear cut as that. The authors of the study admit that it's not telly itself that is the problem, but the viewing is linked to a sedentary lifestyle - and that's what could be the root cause.

In this study, 3,000 children were tracked from the age of three and a half to eleven and a half. During that time, 6% of the children developed asthma - 185 of them. The children who watched TV for more than two hours a day were almost twice as likely to have been diagnosed with asthma as those who watched for less time. But their odds of developing the condition were still small - about 2%.

Even that risk can be mitigated. It's suggested that taking deep breaths can keep the lungs fit, like you do when exercising, so sitting in front of the telly doesn't have to be so bad for children. If they aren't going to run around and exercise, just make sure they breathe deeply when they are sitting still watching Spongebob.

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