The holidays are coming and across America kids are thinking … presents!

CDs, DVDs and video games will be on a lot of wish lists this year. So will iPods, Nintendos, cell phones and computers.

But before kids sign on for the latest electronic gadgets, they and their parents might want to check out a new report on children and electronic media.

The report jointly released by the National Institutes of Health, Common Sense Media and Yale University says that too much time devoted to television, music, movies and other media can have negative effects on children’s health.

After a review of 173 studies done on children and media in the last 28 years, the researchers found “strong connections” between overuse of electronic media and problems with eight and obesity, tobacco and even early sexual behavior.

In addition, the researchers found that kids who overuse electronic media have “above average” risks for drug use, alcohol use and low achievement in school.

The new report is the first to compare the findings of nearly three decades of research on media use by elementary, middle and high school students.

Its goal is to alert parents, and kids themselves, that there are serious health risks from too much time spent with various forms of electronic media.

Many people don’t know that research has shown “if you plop … kids down in front of the TV or the computer for five hours a day, it can change their brain development,” Jim Steyer of Common Sense Media told The New York Times. “It can make them fat and it can lead them to get involved in risky sexual activity at a young age.”

According to studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and other groups, the average child in America now spends nearly 45 hours a week watching television or movies, listening to music, playing video games or using the Internet, cell phones and computers.

That’s one-and-one-half times the 30 hours a week the average child spends in school.

And it’s more than two-and-one-half times the 17 hours most kids spend interacting with their parents each week.

It is no surprise that so much sitting around has left today’s kids three times as likely to be overweight as kids were 20 years ago, according to national health studies.

But researchers said they were surprised that 80 percent of the studies examined found a connection between media use and increased health problems.

Authors of the new report do not oppose kids using electronics for fun or information. They just feel the nation needs “a wake-up call” about too much media use.

They also aim to raise awareness about newer media they feel should get more attention in the future.

Though studies have looked closely at movies, music and television, there is little information about cell phones, the Internet and fast-growing social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

The challenge, Steyer says, is “How do we make this the most positive experience it can be?”