Constant Exposure To TV Can Slow Babies’ Brain Development
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 June 2009, 14:05 CDT
A new study released on Monday shows that constantly having the television on in a household with infants and toddlers is bad for brain and language development because it reduces the number of words the kids hear and say, AFP reported.
Dimitri Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, who led the study, said audible television clearly reduces speech for both infants and their caregivers within the home, which is potentially harmful for babies' development.
In a household with small children, for every hour that the television is on with the volume turned up, the children heard between 500-1,000 fewer words from adults, the study showed.
Christakis said adults typically utter approximately 941 words per hour, but his study found that adult words are almost completely eliminated when television is audible to children.
"These results may explain the association between infant television exposure and delayed language development," he said.
He also suggested that constant exposure to television could also explain attentional and cognitive delays in children, since language development is believed to be key in brain development in early childhood.
The researchers followed 329 children, from two months to four years, who wore special vests with a chest pocket that held a small digital recorder — they wore the vests on random days for up to two years.
During continuous 12 to 16 hour periods, the recorder captured everything the child said and heard and was only removed when the child napped or slept, was bathed or rode in transportation.
The researchers then counted the number of words uttered by adults and vocalizations by children, as well as vocal interactions between grown-ups and kids, and found that having the television on resulted in significant reductions in all speech, regardless of whether it was being actively watched or just on in the background.
Christakis said that since 30 percent of American households report having the television always on, even when no one is watching, these findings have grave implications for language acquisition and perhaps even early brain development.
He noted that television was not only a poor caregiver substitute, but it actually reduced the number of language sounds and words babies hear, vocalize and therefore learn.
"We are increasingly technologizing infancy, which may prove harmful to the next generation of adults," he warned.
The full study was published in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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