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Study assesses TV viewing and verbal interactions among low-income parents and infants
May 06, 2008Mothers in low-income families seldom speak to their infants while the children are watching television or videos, which most do on a daily basis, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"There has been a dramatic increase in television programming directed toward young infants," the authors write as background information in the article. "This has occurred despite recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that children younger than 2 years should not watch any television. Much of this programming is marketed toward parents as 'educational,' despite limited data to support this assertion."
Alan L. Mendelsohn, M.D., of the New York University School of Medicine, and colleagues assessed 154 mothers and children of low socioeconomic status between 2005 and 2006, when the infants were an average of 6.6 months old. Mothers reported how much television their infants watched, along with the type of programming, whether they were watching with the child and whether they talked to the child during the viewing.
Over one 24-hour period, 149 of the 154 mothers (96.8 percent) reported that their infants watched television or videos, for a total of 426 exposures. These included 139 exposures (32.6 percent) to educational programs oriented to young children, 46 (10.8 percent) to non-educational programs oriented to young children, 205 (48.1 percent) to programs aimed at school-aged children, teenagers or adults and 36 (8.5 percent) to unknown programs. Mothers reported verbally interacting with their infants during 101 (23.7 percent) of 426 separate exposures to programs.
"Consistent with our first hypothesis, interactions were most commonly reported in association with educational content, especially among programs that had been co-viewed," the authors write. "However, approximately half of the exposures consisted of programs not intended for young children; these were not associated with frequent interactions even when they were co-viewed."
"Our findings are important because parent-infant interactions are associated with long-term developmental-behavioral outcomes," they conclude. "Verbal responsiveness is frequently seen in association with reading and playing with toys. Given the large amount of media exposure and low frequency of reported interactions, additional study is needed to determine whether media exposure can facilitate interactions of sufficient quantity and quality to be associated with benefits for young children."
JAMA and Archives Journals
Over one 24-hour period, 149 of the 154 mothers (96.8 percent) reported that their infants watched television or videos, for a total of 426 exposures. These included 139 exposures (32.6 percent) to educational programs oriented to young children, 46 (10.8 percent) to non-educational programs oriented to young children, 205 (48.1 percent) to programs aimed at school-aged children, teenagers or adults and 36 (8.5 percent) to unknown programs. Mothers reported verbally interacting with their infants during 101 (23.7 percent) of 426 separate exposures to programs.
"Consistent with our first hypothesis, interactions were most commonly reported in association with educational content, especially among programs that had been co-viewed," the authors write. "However, approximately half of the exposures consisted of programs not intended for young children; these were not associated with frequent interactions even when they were co-viewed."
"Our findings are important because parent-infant interactions are associated with long-term developmental-behavioral outcomes," they conclude. "Verbal responsiveness is frequently seen in association with reading and playing with toys. Given the large amount of media exposure and low frequency of reported interactions, additional study is needed to determine whether media exposure can facilitate interactions of sufficient quantity and quality to be associated with benefits for young children."
JAMA and Archives Journals
Television Current Events and Television News RSSDaycare may double TV time for young children, study finds
In a new study, the amount of television viewed by many young children in child care settings doubles the previous estimates of early childhood screen time, with those in home-based settings watching significantly more on average than those in center-based daycares.
How green is your house?
Preliminary results from 1500 respondents show that those who own their own home are more likely to separate their rubbish (83 per cent) than those in rented accommodation (59 per cent), whilst less than one in a hundred households have solar water heating (0.5 per cent) or solar energy panels (0.5 per cent). Initial findings also show that switching off the lights in unused rooms (82 per cent) and not leaving the television on standby (67 per cent) are significantly more popular than taking fewer flights (16 per cent), car sharing (15 per cent) and not buying items because they have too much packaging (8 per cent).
Shape perception in brain develops by itself
Despite minimal exposure to the regular geometric objects found in developed countries, African tribal people perceive shapes as well as westerners, according to a new study.
Despite some benefit, drug ads can be harmful to your health
While the debate over prescription drug advertising persists, a new study released online in the American Journal of Public Health offers guidelines for improving drug ads in order to minimize potential harm and maximize benefits.
TV bombards children with commercials for high-fat and high-sugar foods
Childhood obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. With more than one fourth of advertising on daytime and prime time television devoted to foods and beverages and continuing questions about the role television plays in obesity.
Expert Predicts Possible Shift in Senior Voting Bloc
The majority of people aged 65 and over cast ballots for John McCain in 2008, but older voters will not necessarily favor Republicans in future presidential elections, according to an article in the latest issue of The Gerontologist (Vol. 49, No. 5).
High-definition Colonoscopy Detects More Polyps, Mayo Clinic Researchers Say
High-definition (HD) colonoscopy is much more sensitive than standard colonoscopy in finding polyps that could morph into cancer, say researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida.
Researchers rest their case: TV consumption predicts opinions about criminal justice system
People who watch forensic and crime dramas on TV are more likely than non-viewers to have a distorted perception of America's criminal justice system, according to new research from Purdue University.
Exercise makes cigarettes less attractive to smokers
Exercise can help smokers quit because it makes cigarettes less attractive. A new study from the University of Exeter shows for the first time that exercise can lessen the power of cigarettes and smoking-related images to grab the attention of smokers. The study is published in the journal Addiction.
As Greenland melts
Not that long ago - the blink of a geologic eye - global temperatures were so warm that ice on Greenland could have been hard to come by. Today, the largest island in the world is covered with ice 1.6 miles thick. Even so, Greenland has become a hot spot for climate scientists.
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