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British children spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes a day glued to the TV
Last updated at 00:52am on 17.01.08British children spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes in front of screens a day, a shock report has revealed.
The startling figures show youngsters are wasting more time watching TV than they were five years ago, when they were spending four hours and 40 minutes staring at screens.
Children are spending all of their free time glued either to TV or computer screens - or in some cases both.
Figures reveal the flickering of a screen is present when they eat their breakfast, return home from school, eat dinner and at night in their bedrooms.
Two thirds, particularly the youngest children, watch TV before school and 83 per cent turn it on when they get home.
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Telly addicts: Two thirds of children wattch television beforethey go to school and 83 per cent turn it on when the moment they get home
Fifty eight per cent watch television during their evening meal and almost two thirds of children do so in bed before going to sleep.
Worryingly the study also paints a picture of a generation of children who have attention spans so short they 'multitask' and leave the TV on while surfing the internet - flicking their eyes from laptop and back again.
Even if they do stay locked on to the television they are reluctant, boys in particular, to commit to one programme and, boys especially, just flick between shows.
The report from market research agency Childwise showed a revival in television watching along children after three years of decline.
It has been fuelled by more girls watching soaps like Eastenders and Hollyoaks.
Internet use is also continuing to grow and children are using social networking sites at ever younger ages.
It means British children spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes in front of a screen each day, up from four hours and 40 minutes four years ago.
Boys spend 2.7 hours a day watching TV and 1.9 hours on-line. Girls spend 2.6 hours watching TV but more time on the internet - 2.1 hours a day.
Four out of five children have a TV set in their rooms.
The rise in internet and TV use may have come at the expense of reading books for pleasure.
While four in five children read books in their free time, only 53 per cent do so at least once a week and a quarter daily.
Rosemary Duff, Childwise research director, said television was now 'almost woven into children's lives' but added how they watch has changed too.
She said: "A lot of television viewing has lost the 'pay it attention' feel it used to have.
"It used to be less ubiquitous but much higher in its importance whereas now it is widespread but just part of the background, not just at home but wherever you go."
Ms Duff said children, boys in partiuclar, don't just watch one programme but flick between the two and 'watch both'.
She said: "They flick from one to another and cannot conceive that they should have to make a decision.
"They are puzzled that you should put them in a situation of having to make one or another choice."
The Childwise study has been conducted every year for the last 14 years however this year was the first time researchers asked when children watched TV.
It was based on interviews with 1,147 children in 60 schools in England, Scotland and Wales.
Reader views (1)
Of course children are going to watch more TV then five years ago. If there was the option of these kids having more activities available outside their homes; then maybe we could complain. However at the moment we should be greatfull! At least there spending less time outside; where they could be committing crimes or becoming victims.
- Yazmin, Edmonton, London
