The more hours a two-year-old spent watching telly, the higher the risk, research into 2,000 children in Canada found.
It then questioned the children themselves about their social experiences 11 years later.
The research found toddlerhood is a “critical time” to learn social skills like sharing or respect and kids need creative, interactive play.
Prof Linda Pagani, of the University of Montreal, said: “Children who watched a lot of television were more likely to prefer solitude, experience peer victimisation and adopt aggressive behaviour.
“We observed that excessive televiewing at age 13 tends to complicate the situation, posing additional risks of social impairment.”
She added: “It is unclear to what extent excessive televiewing in early childhood – a particularly critical time in the development of areas of the brain involved in self-regulation of emotional intelligence – can adversely affect social interactions.”
The problem is “especially worrisome” because parents likely underestimate the amount of screen time their children experience.
“We don’t know if they include screen time from daycare,” Professor Pagani said, explaining the brain is wired for live, synchronous interaction, which children cannot get from a TV.
The study also concludes that adolescents who experience these types of difficulties are at risk of long-term health problems, such as depression and cardiometabolic disease, and socio-economic problems, such as underachievement and unemployment.
Toddlers who watch too much TV can become violent at 13
14 September 2016
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TOO much TV as a toddler can make kids grow into bullied social misfits who are violent and antisocial by the age of 13, a study says.
