Excessive TV ‘damaging’ for young

TOO much TV and not enough exercise is causing early artery damage in children as young as six, a study has found.

Scientists discovered that youngsters who spent the most time watching television had narrowed blood vessels in their eyes.

The effect is a known warning sign of an increased risk of heart disease.

Researchers measured tiny differences in the size of micro-arteries at the back of the eye.

Sedentary six and seven- year-olds had an average “retinal arteriolar” narrowing of 2.3 microns. A micron is one thousandth of a millimetre.

Those who regularly participated in outdoor physical activity had retinal blood vessels that were 2.2 microns wider than those who did the least exercise.

The narrowing associated with each extra hour of TV or computer viewing was similar to that which accompanies a blood pressure increase in children of 10 millimetres of mercury.

Lead researcher Dr Bamini Gopinath, from the Centre for Vision Research at the University of Sydney, Australia, said: “We found that children with a high level of physical activity had a more beneficial microvascular profile compared to those with the lowest levels of physical activity.

“This suggests that unhealthy lifestyle factors may influence microcirculation early in life and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension (high blood pressure) later in life.”

This is the first time retinal blood vessel diameter has been shown to be affected by a sedentary lifestyle in young children.