Asthma is a chronic disease that, at its worst, can be fatal, and the rates are rising. According statistics, 5.4 million Britons, including 1.1 million children, have asthma. Recent study revealed that children spending more than two hours before television have double risk of asthma.

Researchers at Glasgow University selected 3,065 children without asthma when they were 3 1/2 years old, followed them for next eight years. Researchers enquired from parents about the time children spent before television. By the end of the study, six per cent of the kids developed asthma at the age of 11. Data analysis revealed children who watched TV for more than two hours a day had 80 per cent risk of asthma.

Research team led by A. Sherriff, from the University of Glasgow's dental school said: "This study has shown for the first time a positive association between increased duration of reported TV viewing in early childhood and the development of asthma by 11.5 years of age in children with no symptoms of asthma in early childhood."