A recent research has shown that exposure to TV, the Internet and other types of media have adverse effects on children. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and a nonprofit advocacy group, Common Sense Media analyzed 173 studies about the effects of media consumption on children. Data analysis showed that 80% of the reviewed studies agree that heavy media exposure increases the risk of harm, including obesity, smoking, sex, drug and alcohol use, attention problems and poor grades. 93% of studies found that children with greater media exposure have sex earlier.

Findings revealed that the average child spends nearly 45 hours a week immersed in media — almost three times the amount of time they spend with their parents. In comparison, children spend an average of 30 hours in school.

Co-author Ezekiel Emanuel of the National Institutes of Health said that the study provides overwhelming evidence of the importance of limiting children's use of media and teaching them to critically evaluate the ever-growing volume of text, images and sounds with which they are bombarded.