Recently the pediatric journal Pediatric Annals devoted an issue to children and the media. Now I have to admit I don't read every journal but this one had me glued to it cover to cover. So I'm going to summarize some of it in my next few blogs.
If you have been to a baby shower lately you have seen how common baby DVDs have become such as Baby Einstein and Your Baby Can Read. A recent study was done on 1000 children under age 2. For children ages 7-16 months who watched baby DVDs it was found that they had poorer language than children the same age who didn't watch them. Specifically, for each hour of baby DVDs watched the children studied knew on average about 6-8 fewer words. Another study in Thailand found that infants who watch two or more hours of TV a day had a sixfold increase in the likelihood of speech delay.
I also found another study interesting. It found that when a TV is on (in the background, the infant is not watching it) the infant vocalizes less and has fewer parent-child interactions.
The Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV or video viewing for children under age 2. This seems rather strict but when you consider the outcomes of these studies it makes more sense. So save yourself some money and don't buy baby DVDs. Then turn the TV off and play with your child!
Thanks, Dr. Krieg, for bringing some of the research about the affects of to your patients and readers. Generally speaking,due to time pressures during exams,this topic is seldom covered by pediatricians, who are a crucial link between the research and the caregivers. FYI, Dr. Fuld, who head the AAP media committee, will be a guest on The Healthy Media Choices Hour on Tuesday, November 30 at 1p.m. ET to discuss these matters. Streaming at www.wvew.org
ReplyDeleteMary L. Rothschild, Director
Healthy Media Choices
www.healthymediachoices.org