Evidently, putting your children in front of the television is a bad idea...shocking, right? I had told my brother to not purchase the Baby Einstein video because a study demonstrated that children who watch it actually learn less words than their counterparts. Just today, I read Disney is refunding parent's money for purchasing it. (Here and Here).
Other studies are finding more and more links to television watching and decreasing attention spans as they get older. Australia has begun to adopt guidelines suggesting children under the age of 30 months watch little to no tv, as studies are demonstrating poor vocabularies, poor attention spans, and aggressive behavior (Here).
Another study of 3 to 8 year olds found that TV was linked to significantly higher blood pressure in children, regardless of their weight. Ironically, other sedentary behaviors like using the computer were not significantly linked. Furthermore, researchers estimate children see 10,000 or more food ads per year (the average person sees close to 3500 ads per day...not just on TV), which likely promote unhealthy lifestyles and contribute to our youth's obesity problem.
I guess we should all take heed. Reading is good, TV is bad; outdoor activities is good; TV is bad. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize this. It is good that there is increasingly good empirical evidence demonstrating the bad things TV does to children. I suppose anyone with a kid or young people around and have watched them watch TV knows they essentially become retarded...
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