Limiting exposure Studies differ on whether some media help development
By Brandy McDonnell
Published: October 9, 2006
Perusing the baby section at local stores, parents are as likely to find DVDs and compact discs as they are diapers and formula.
The past decade has brought a boom in infant media, with hundreds of books, videos, CDs and computer games designed for babies. Sold under brands such as "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby," many are marketed as "edutainment" and promise to entertain and educate infants.
Advertisement
Their popularity is indisputable. From 2001-05, Baby Einstein's retail sales grew from $25 million to $200 million.
But the wisdom of putting babies in front of televisions is in dispute.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children younger than 2, said Dr. Benard Dreyer of the group's communication committee. The group's policy is no more than two hours of TV a day for children ages 2-5, since research shows that educational programs can benefit this age group.
The concern is that TV is a waste of infants' time that could displace proven learning activities such as playing with toys or in the park.
"In the first two years of life ... we know that children don't learn without interactions with people. There's a lot of science that shows that children will not learn information or skills from TV or DVDs at that age," said Dreyer, a pediatrician, professor and vice chairman of New York University School of Medicine. "It's baby-sitting. It's not helping their development in any way, but the sad thing is that parents think it is."
On average, babies 6 months to 3 years old spend an hour a day watching TV and 47 minutes a day with other screen media, such as computers, videos and video games, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Since babies are awake only 10-12 hours a day, that's a big chunk of time, said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Children's Hospital in Seattle.
While many videos promise to stimulate cognitive development or teach certain skills, he said no evidence backs these claims.
"There is no obvious benefit, and there's actually a risk of harm," he said.
Christakis led a 2004 study of 1- and 3-year-olds that found an association between early TV exposure and attention problems at age 7.
He said babies can't understand the content of videos. Infants fixate on them because the scenes change rapidly, sometimes as often as every three to six seconds.
"We are technologizing childhood in a way that's unprecedented. We're really engaging in a nationwide, uncontrolled experiment on the next generation," he said.
If parents occasionally use the videos to take a short break, he said they shouldn't feel terribly guilty. But they shouldn't think they're making their children smarter.
Dr. Marny Dunlap, assistant professor of pediatrics at University of Oklahoma's College of Medicine, suggests parents watch along and interact with their infants during educational DVDs.
"If you're going to have your child watching TV, that's the kind of things you ... want to watch. But for an infant, no TV is better. You're better off reading a book with them or playing a game."
She said companies are making videos for infants "not because kids need it, because there's a market for it."
Brainy Baby President and chief Executive Officer Dennis Fedoruk said he has children's best interests at heart. He created his first videos in 1995 for his sons. At 12 and 14, they are A students without attention problems, he said.
"There's nothing conclusive in their ‘studies' that these videos are detrimental to children," he said. "We've not had a single customer in 12 years say that they've had a detriment or harm to their children."
He said little research has been done on educational TV for children younger than 2. He welcomes such studies.
"We hear testimonies from thousands and thousands of parents that their children do indeed learn these academic skills (from our products) at an early age, before age 2," he said.
He advises parents to use the videos in moderation as learning tools, along with books, music and toys.
Dr. Ed McCabe, physician in chief at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, is on the advisory board of BabyFirstTV cable channel. He supports moderate TV viewing for infants with parental interaction.
"The decision parents need to make is about the content and not about an entire medium," he said.
Since infants are watching TV, educational content is vital, he said. The purpose isn't to supplant reading and interaction but to complement and encourage them.
"The (American Academy of Pediatrics) policy denies the reality that parents are living in these days," he said. "I don't think we should be condemning good parents for something that there's no solid evidence to create a policy on."
Choctaw parents Chrissy and Frank Cleary use the academy's guideline, but not as a hard-and-fast rule. They have two children and are expecting their third in December.
They let their son, Joshua, 4 1/2 , watch Baby Einstein and Sesame Street before his second birthday, and their daughter, Rebekah, 2�, has been a Dora the Explorer fan for a year. Rebekah sometimes watched TV with her older brother before she turned 2, Chrissy Cleary said.
"It's not necessarily hurtful if it's limited, and you're sitting there with them and interacting with them," she said. "They spend a lot more time reading each day than they do watching TV."
Fitness and Nutrition
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and find out why proper diet and exercise are key.
More Info
Toddlers listen and look at illustrations while children’s librarian Tulin LaFollette reads to them during lap-sit storytime at the Choctaw Library. By JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Media for infants
The past decade has seen a boom in media designed for babies. Many are classified as "edutainment" because they promise to entertain and educate infants. Here's what experts say about infant media:
• Books: Doctors agree that age-appropriate books are good for babies. "We know from research that reading to babies and that interaction with parents does spur development," said OU Physicians pediatrician Dr. Marny Dunlap.
• Compact discs: Music can be fun and educational for babies, especially if parents clap, dance and interact with them as it plays. Music should be age-appropriate and at reasonable volume, but doesn't have to come from a "baby" CD.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be Mozart, but it probably shouldn't be Twisted Sister," said Seattle pediatrician Dr. Dimitri Christakis.
• Videos/DVDs/TV: TV for babies is controversial. The American Academy of Pediatrics' guideline is no screen media for children younger than 2. But a Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed that 49 percent of parents deem educational videos "very important" to children's intellectual growth.
Opponents and supporters agree that if parents use screen media, they should use it in moderation.
"TV viewing should be responsible, and early TV viewing should be even more responsible," said Brainy Baby President and CEO Dennis Fedoruk.
• Computer/video games: Again, the academy has a no-screen time policy for babies. But the Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 43 percent of parents think educational computer games are important.
"We're not Luddites. We're not anti any of these things so much as we are pro interacting with real people," said Dr. Benard Dreyer of the academy's communication committee.
— Brandy McDonnell
Related to this story
Articles
Program encourages reading to infants 10/09/2006
Christina and Joshua Glore have been reading to their son since he was born and even shared a few books with him well before his due date.
The...
Prev
