Toddler TV-viewing should be curbed by age 5

EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH TV CAN BE UNDONE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Anita Manning]
Parents who fear television is rotting their toddlers' minds may find it's not too late to head off potential problems by turning off the tube and taking it out of their children's rooms, a report suggests. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report that it's not only how many hours children spend in front of the TV, but at what age they watch that matters. Among the findings: Children who watched two or more hours of TV a day at 30-33 months old but had reduced TV watching by the time they were 5½ had no significant social or behavioral problems. Those who didn't watch much TV as toddlers but were heavy (two hours or more daily) viewers by age 5½ were having problems with social skills. Those who had been sustained, heavy TV watchers from age 2½ to 5½ had deficits in social skills as well as behavior, including problems with attention and showing aggression. Parents reported that 40% of children at age 5½ have televisions in their bedrooms, a factor that was linked to sleep problems and may also "dampen the intensity with which children react to stimulation (or) changes in their environment," says Kamila Mistry, lead author of the report, which is in the October issue of the journal Pediatrics.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20071001/d_kidstv01.art.htm

* Toddler TV-viewing should be curbed by age 5: study
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=televisionNews&story...