(Photo Credit: PA/KEVIN SCOTT RAMOS/GWR)

“Unboxing” videos can be unhealthy for kids according to new study

Many young children are mesmerized by YouTube’s plethora of “unboxing” videos (videos that show other children taking new toys out of their packaging and playing with them.) But a new study from the University of Colorado at Boulder says these videos might negatively affect children’s behavior. The study showed that watching unboxing videos leads children to be more demanding and materialistic, said Harsha Gangadharbatla, one of the researchers.

“We have found an association between children’s consumption of unboxing videos and its relationship to their purchase demands,” Gangadharbatla said.

This is bad news for parents, sixty percent of whom say their children watch at least an hour a week of unboxing videos. Children who watch even more hours’ worth of toy videos experience more negative consequences, the researchers said.

“We found there are differences between these two groups,” Gangadharbatla said. “The ones that consumed higher levels, a higher amount of time watching unboxing videos, were more likely to ask for those toys and more likely to throw tantrums and show emotional distress if the parents say no to that.”

The researchers said most “unboxing” videos on YouTube are essentially commercials, and the child or adult unboxing the toy is being paid by a toy company to promote it. The researchers recommended that parents limit the number of time kids spend watching toy videos or eliminate them altogether.