They identified 3,535 children aged nine and over, with no history of asthma, living in both smoggy and relatively unpolluted towns and suburbs, and recorded what happen to them over the next five years.Uniquely, they took particular notice of how much sport the children played. Sporty children are exposed to more air pollution, both because they spend more time outdoors and because vigorous exercise makes them breathe 17 times faster, and draws air deeper into the lungs.They found that children who played three or more sports in smoggy areas were more than three times more likely to get asthma than equally active children in relatively unpolluted ones. Less sporty children in polluted towns and suburbs were also more likely to get the disease, though not to the same extent.Top British experts last week hailed the study as a breakthrough. “It is very, very important – the first paper I know of that suggests that pollution may cause asthma,” said Dr John Ayres, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Birmingham.. Britain could be forced to ban advertising from children’s television under European law. A report will be prepared in time for the next audiovisual council, on 23 May.Some EU states are likely to press for Europe-wide rules restricting advertising.

Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Ireland already haverestrictions protecting young viewers.In the UK, the food policy watchdog Sustain claims that 99 per cent of food advertised on children’s TV contains high levels of fat, salt or sugar – higher levels than contained in products advertised in adult schedules.The Medical Research Council says the number of obese children has trebled in the past 20 years: Weight Concern puts the figure now at about one million.The Public Accounts Committee of the Commons stated that the UK’s Food Standards Agency “should work with the food industry [on] a code of conduct with regard to … food advertising aimed at children”.The Labour MP Debra Shipley this month proposed an early day motion in parliament to ban marketing to the under-fives. – which was backed by 92 MPs.The Incorporated Society of British Advertising is adamant there is no link between TV advertising and obesity in children.. Children who spend hours glued to video games are exposing themselves to an array of health problems ranging from mouse elbow to joystick digit.

As many as one in five children had some kind of health problem linked to overuse, according to a new study. One in seven children spent so much time playing games that they had evidence of black rings around the eyes because of lack of sleep, say the researchers, who quizzed 1,142 children aged six to 11 and their parents.The report, in the medical journal Pediatrics International, shows that 20 per cent of the children had muscle stiffness, and, in a third of cases, the stiffness was so severe that the shoulder blade had been displaced.The researchers from the Akita University School of Medicine in Japan found that those who spent more than one hour a day playing games were more likely to have problems.The research is the latest in a series of reports to link health problems with excessive use of video and computer games. Doctors have identified a range of syndromes linked to games playing, most of which are the result of repetitive movements or of sleep deprivation. Some researchers say overuse could cause long-term heart damage.Mouse elbow is caused by damage to the tissue of the forearm and the elbow. The elbow can also suffer trauma injury as a result of too vigorous movements of the mouse. Palm blister is the result of overuse of the sensitive skin at the centre of the palm.

Video eyes are the result of too much game playing and too little sleep.Joystick digit is a consequence of overuse of the finger on the joystick. Vibration finger or hand-arm vibration syndrome is caused by excessive use of vibrating computer game controllers. Nerve trap is caused by the head and neck being in one position for too long.The new report has invigorated calls by British campaigners for games to carry health warnings that advise on the time spent playing them. Dr Mark Griffiths, psychology lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, said: “The games are designed to keep you there for hours and hours. Once people are on, they stay on.”Paediatricians from the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital cited the case of a 15-year-old boy who spent up to seven hours a day playing a driving game on his Sony PlayStation. He had suffered pain and swelling in his hands for two years as a result of the vibrating controller.Sony Computer Entertainment Inc is investigating the report but PlayStation games already advise users to take a 15-minute break every hour.. In 1875, composer Georges Bizet’s reputation as the toast of Paris was firmly established and it was with justifiable confidence that he opened his latest production at the Opera Comique.