One-third high school teens spend 30 hrs a week on 'screen time'

Washington: Almost one third of the high school teenagers are spending an average of 30 hours per week in front of the screen, says a new study.

During the study, the researchers examined 1,293 seventh grade students from 10 Montreal high schools and observed the patterns of screen-time including time spent on viewing television, video, computer and the Internet.

"Boys and those whose parents had lower educational attainment were much more likely to be in the 'high-screen time' group," said Tracie A. Barnett, Ph. D., lead author of the study.

"Teens with high levels of screen time may be at increased risk of obesity," she added.

The students were asked to complete in class questionnaires four times a year for five years where they gave the details of their usual number of hours spent watching television or videos, and using the computer or surfing the Internet.

The findings revealed that 52 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls reported average total screen-time levels above 42 hours per week.

52 percent of boys and 39 percent of girls reported average levels of TV/video use above 23 hours per week while 24 percent of boys and 7 percent of girls reported average levels of computer/Internet use of almost 30 hours per week.

Moreover, neighbourhood social factors also played an important role in influencing the patterns of screen-time.

The girls belonging to neighbourhoods ranked as the lowest third were more likely to have high screen-time up to five-fold while boys living in neighbourhoods that had the lowest level of education were more likely to have high screen time up to two- to three-fold.

"Researchers need to explore why adolescents' (notably girls') levels of especially television and video screen-time viewing through high school are higher if they live in neighbourhoods that are socio-economically disadvantaged," said Barnett.

The study was presented at the American Heart Association's 48th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. (ANI)

China closed 44,000 pornographic websites in 2007

Authorities in China shut down 44,000 domestic websites and homepages and arrested 868 people while investigating 524 criminal cases in a campaign against Internet pornography last year, a national teleconference has heard.

Another 1,911 people involved in 1,609 Internet pornography activities were penalized, while the authorities canceled more than

440,000 pornographic messages online.

According to a Xinhua report, a total of 199,000 websites were registered by the authorities last year, but another 14,000 were refused the access to the Internet for failing to get official registration or to apply for official approval.

The campaign will continue until September, after the Beijing Olympic Games ends, the meeting, jointly organized by the Ministry of Public Security, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and 11 other central departments, heard.

The crackdowns would focus on those who profited from spreading pornographic messages via the Internet and mobile phones, porn-site operators in foreign countries and Chinese Internet users, organizers of pornographic performances online and clients of prostitution.

The authorities will give special attention to websites that deal in audio and visual programs, blogging, videos, point-to-point services, and mobile phone sites.

One in four Brit teens lose their virginity by 16

London, : Nearly 25 percent of British teenagers lose their virginity before the legal age of 16, according to a new study.

The survey showed that one in ten of those polled got pregnant the first time they had sex.

Nearly a third didn't use any protection, with one in five having a one-night stand and six per cent catching an STD.

The study, by Onepoll. com, showed that while having a sexual intercourse one in ten were under 15, more than a third were drunk, and 43 per cent didn't enjoy the session.

The survey of 2,000 under-25s also revealed that nearly half were in a relationship, however, 42 per cent wished it had been with someone else.

More than one in three hoped that they had waited until they were older.

The study comes in the wake of the UK government's 26.8million pounds drive to slash Britain's teen pregnancy rate.

Onepoll. com managing director John Sewell called the results "extremely worrying" and said teenagers were gambling with their future health.

"It's interesting to see so many regret losing their virginity the way they did. But once you've done it — there's no going back," The Sun quoted Sewell, as saying. (ANI)

Indians have right to settle anywhere, says apex court

Brushing aside the recent controversy created by Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Friday said every Indian has the right to settle anywhere in the country.

A Bench of Justices H K Sema and Markandey Katju said, "India is not an association or confederation of states, it is a union of states and there is only one nationality that is Indian. Hence every Indian has the right to go anywhere in India, to settle anywhere, and work and do business of his choice in any part of India peacefully." The court upheld the order of the municipal authorities in Gujarat, which banned slaughter of animals during the paryushan festival of Jain community. "It is a short restriction for a few days and surely the non-vegetarians can remain vegetarian for this short period."

"In a multi-cultural country like ours with such diversity, one should not be over-sensitive and over-touchy about a short restriction when it is being done out of respect for the sentiments of a particular society," said the judgment.

The court also deplored the growing tendency of some sections of the people in indulging in violence on issues that they differed on.

Justice Katju observed in the judgment, "These days unfortunately some people seems to be perpetually on the fuse, and are willing to protest, often violently, about anything under the sun on the ground that a book or painting or film has hurt the sentiments of their community."

The apex court said such tendency leading to Balkanisation of the country should be curbed with an iron hand.

"We are one nation and must respect each other and should have tolerance," the Bench said.