Study: TV Time Doubled in Home Daycares

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study suggests television is being viewed twice as much in home-based daycare settings than in center-based daycares, much higher than previous estimates.  It has been over 20 years since a study has examined screen time in childcare settings.

“It's alarming to find that so many children in the United States are watching essentially twice as much television as we previously thought," Dimitri A. Christakis, M.D., MPH, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine was quoted as saying.

Researchers looked at television use in 168 childcare programs in Michigan, Florida, Washington and Massachusetts, 74 were center-based and 94 were home-based. The study found children in home-based childcare programs were exposed to much more television on an average day than center-based child care programs.

This is important because excessive television viewing in a preschool setting has been linked to language delay, obesity, attention problems and aggression.

“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 adds.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, December 2009

If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com