Publish dateSunday 22 April 2012 - 11:16
Story Code : 40429
US kids exposed to hours of daily TV background
The US children are exposed to about four hours of background TV every day, a condition which can have negative effects on their natural development.
Previous studies had tied background TV to problems such as learning and reading difficulties among young children who have not acquired the ability to multitask and focus on different things at the same time.

“Background TV is TV that is on in the vicinity of the child that the child is not attending to,” said researcher Matthew Lapierre of the University of Pennsylvania.

Lapierre and colleagues examined background TV exposure in 1,454 households with children between the ages of 8 months to 8 years.

Their findings showed that the average US American kid was exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television every day.

The least exposure was seen among children who did not have a TV in their room, Lapierre noted. “We think parents leave the TV on while the child is sleeping.”

“We were ready and willing to accept that the exposure would be high, but we were kind of shocked at how high it really was,” he added. “It’s particularly concerning because there is evidence this exposure has negative consequences for development.”

The indirect TV exposure didn’t include the time in which children attentively watched TV.

“For every minute of television to which children are directly exposed, there are an additional 3 minutes of indirect exposure, making background exposure a much greater proportion of time in a young child's day,” the authors say.

The study which will be presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association in Phoenix, has a clear message for parents: "If no one is watching the TV, turn it off."
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
https://avapress.com/vdcaoyny.49nwu1gtk4.html
Post a comment
Your Name
Your Email Address