TV Viewing bad for Children below 2 years old

TV Viewing bad for Children below 2 years old

According to statistics, 90% of American parents allow their children below the age of 2 to watch television and other sources of streaming videos. The influence of media has been seen to have pervaded our developed and modern world to an extent that alarmed the American Academy of Pediatrics to release Tuesday its newest guidelines since more than a decade ago in 1999.

The guidelines released discourage parents to allow children under 2 years old to any screen viewing time. The group, considered to be the largest pediatrician society in the United States, says that over 50 studies have been conducted linking slower language development among children under the age of 2 and screen viewing.

When the television screen is turned on, parents talk less and so there has been scientific evidence suggesting that lesser the talk time for a child will result to poorer language development. The newest guidelines released did not particularly refer to interactive video games for children but to all forms of media that can be visually seen by a child, be it on the television, computer, mobile phone, etc.  The AAP hopes this newest guidelines will be given utmost importance by the parents, putting in mind that screen viewing have negative effects on children and currently no known positive and desirable effects.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday October 23 2011, 4:51 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0