Study: TV Can Impair Children's Speech Development
According to USA Today, a study conducted by a pediatric journal has discovered parents who watch TV are less likely to talk with their kids while the set is on, reigniting the debate over whether television is healthy for infants and toddlers.
The findings, published in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, a peer reviewed journal published by the American Medical Association, examined 329 children and their parents--many of the participants as young as 2 months old.
The research was conducted by Dimitri Christakis of the Seattle-based Children's Research Institute. Christakis and colleagues fitted children with digital devices, such as recorders and cameras, that captured the participant's words. A speech recognition program later filtered the participant's voices from the voices of actors on TV. The recordings took place each day for a period of six months.
Among Christakis's findings: Children talked to their parents less while watching television versus other media--770 words an hour less than their peers, according to the study.
Adults are no better. Most of the parents of the study's participants logged about 941 words an hourabout 22 percent less than they would if television was not present.
The main culprit in each of the cases was information overload--parents and children simply found it more difficult to both watch TV and talk (or play) at the same, much as a motorist would find it difficult to drive and listen to the radio at the same time.
According to Christakis, though most babies and toddlers who watch TV catch up with their peers 16 months later, the lag may help explain why kids who watch TV during that period know fewer words.
"Babies learn language from hearing it spoken." He said.
Victor Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, praised Christakis's research.
"It is an excellent, creative study." He said.
The study is the seventh in a string of research studies finding television in young children harmful, or at least not helpful. In March, a report by the Harvard Medical Journal found that data showing television's negative effects on children is inconclusive--it neither helped nor harmed them, though the news is little comfort to researchers and child development experts.
"We need to avoid parking children in front of screens." Strasburger said. "Parents need to realize they need to be the primary entertainment for their babies. Parents are movie stars when their kids are babies. It doesn't last long."
The study, entitled "Audible Television and Decreased Adult Words, Infant Vocalizations, and Conversational Turns: A Population-Based Study" can be accessed via the journal's website, www.archpedi.ama-assn.org/current.dtl. There is no charge for access.