Daycare may double TV time for young kidsNovember 23rd, 2009 - 5:01 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, November 23 (ANI): Kids are spending as many as two hours a day in front of television in child care settings, says a new study.
Lead author Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and professor of paediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, looked at frequency and quantity of television viewing for infants, toddlers and pre-school aged children.
The expert found that kids in home-based settings watched significantly more on average than those in center-based daycares.
Preschool-Aged Children’s Television Viewing in Child Care Settings discovered that among preschool-aged children, those in home-based daycares watched TV for 2.4 hours per day on average, compared to 0.4 hours in center-based settings.
Christakis said: “Research continues to link excessive preschool screen time with language delay, obesity, attentional problems and even aggression depending upon content.
“At the same time, studies show that high quality preschool can be beneficial to children’s development. Unfortunately, for many children, the potential benefits of preschool may be being displaced by passive TV viewing. I suspect many parents are unaware of the frequency and extent of TV viewing in day care settings. Hopefully, these findings will serve as a wake up call for them.”
Christakis added: “I think most parents expect their child’s preschool environment to provide opportunities for cognitive stimulation, social interaction and physical activity. Television is a poor substitute for all of these.
“We are increasingly technologizing childhood, which may prove harmful to the next generation of adults. Parents and health care providers should know how many total hours of screen time and what programs constitute children’s media diet, just as they should know how many calories and what foods they’re ingesting per day.”
The study was published in the December 2009 issue of Paediatrics. (ANI)
- Most preschool-age children exceed daily screen time recommendations - Oct 28, 2010
- Parental neglect turning children into couch potatoes - Jun 24, 2012
- Early detection of depression in preschool children important - May 20, 2010
- Most US kids aged two to five get little exercise (Lead) - Dec 16, 2009
- TV habits can foretell kids' fitness - Jul 16, 2012
- Asthma management programs benefit preschoolers: Study - Feb 26, 2011
- Kids with lung disease prone to serious infections at daycare - Sep 27, 2010
- Kids get little exercise, overexposed to TV - Dec 16, 2009
- Stay-at-home mothers find baby care exhausting - Sep 25, 2011
- Forcing kids to clean their plates can turn them into overeaters - Mar 07, 2009
- Kids' temper tantrums could signal mental illness - Aug 31, 2012
- Toddlers learn better from play, not TV screens - Oct 19, 2011
- Kids with TVs in their bedrooms 'likelier to be overweight' - May 02, 2011
- Watching TV likely to retard childrens' language skills - Jun 02, 2009
- Parental neglect turns kids into couch potatoes - Jun 24, 2012
Tags: child care settings, christakis, cognitive stimulation, health behavior, health care providers, infants toddlers, language delay, media diet, paediatrics, poor substitute, s media, school aged children, screen time, seattle children, social interaction, television viewing, time studies, tv time, university of washington school of medicine, young kids