Some research has indicated that the attention deficit disorder some children suffer from are as a result of watching too much TV. These children who watch more and read less have more trouble staying focused and paying attention to things. Essentially a developmental disorder is induced by spending excessive amounts of time in front of the TV.
Television is a form of media and makes a lot of money through advertising and promoting products. Children who are not supervised in their TV habits and who are allowed to watch whatever they desire are subject to an over exposure to a number of different topics. Many of these are totally out of their age range and with the advent of digital television and the hundreds of channels on offer, kids can pick and choose what they would like to watch.
Watching the wrong sorts of things can influence children in negative ways and lead to smoking, drinking and drug taking in order to copy their favorite TV characters and personalities. Furthermore commercials about fast foods and and unhealthy products are bound to leave an impression with young kids and create a desire within them to get these products. This can in turn lead to bad diets and poor health.
The health issue with watching an overload of TV is also important. Children spending hour upon hour sat down without getting any form of physical exercise can lead to issues of weight and as a result associated health issues. Furthermore, sitting for hours in this way is very bad for your eyes.
Studies in psychology have also shown that there can be detrimental effects on children from being exposed at an early age to adult programming. Horror films, murder scenes and any sort of aggressive violence will often leave a child scarred and will leave a lasting impact on their emotions.
Often this may lead to children having a warped and fearful perspective on the world and they may become aggressive and violent themselves as a result.