I don’t know about you, but with the recent addition of 500 reality TV shows on every network, its hard for me to find anything worth watching on television anymore. But apparently, the onslaught of mindless network shows hasn’t affected what your kids are watching.

In the U.S., the average child will watch up to 4 hours of TV a day. But this is by no fault of their own - most daycare centers (70%) have movies or childrens’ shows playing throughout the days to keep the kids entertained, and some school activities include films or movies for the children as well.

Although, studies show that most children start watching TV long before they enter school. And within a year, the average child spends 900 hours in school and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a TV.

Of course, television, in moderation, can be a good thing: Preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet and counting from shows like Sesame Street, grade schoolers can learn about animals and wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news. Its obvious that TV can serve a valuable purpose in some cases.

But what are the negative effects of too much TV?

• Research has shown that children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching TV are more likely to be overweight.
• Kids who view violent events, such as a kidnapping or murder, are also more likely to believe that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them.
• Research also indicates that TV consistently reinforces gender-role and racial stereotypes.

Read More about the effects of TV