Does watching television bring on early puberty? Many parents would not doubt that repeated exposure to Sex and the City or the kind of sensual variety shows common on Italian TV could as easily turn their daughters into Lolitas as stir up the latent testosterone in their sons. But researchers from Florence University have come up with an alternative explanation: watching screens, regardless of the subject matter, helps to advance adolescence. A study carried out last month in the Tuscan town of Cavriglia detected a huge increase in production of the hormone melatonin in children deprived of TV, computers and video. Among the functions ascribed to melatonin is that of slowing down the progress of children to sexual maturity.
Roberto Salti said: "We may thus be able to explain a phenomenon of recent years, which is the bringing forward of puberty in young children."
Vast amounts of research have been conducted to the effect of television on children. But most has focused on the psychological, rather than physiological, effects.
"In our study television does not feature, as it does in other scientific studies, as a source of strong emotions, capable of unleashing emotive reactions that contribute to development," said Roberto Tarquini, another member of the team. "For us, it is just a source of light and radiation."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1248692,00.html