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Pediatric studies advise parents: Shut off the TV

As sets become common in kids' bedrooms, research shows that kids don't do as well in school when they watch too much.

By LISA GREENE
Published July 5, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Christian Meitz looked at his mom.

"I don't watch it that much," said the 13-year-old St. Petersburg resident.

She sighed.

"It's an unnecessary evil," said Maura Meitz.

It's the battle every parent fights: How much TV is too much for a child? How much is bad for them? How much is harmless entertainment?

Three studies published Monday in this month's issue of a national pediatrics journal offer little comfort for worried parents - or, perhaps, new ammunition in the war over the remote control. The basic conclusion of all three studies: TV is bad for children's brains.

Third-graders with TVs in their bedrooms scored lower on standardized tests in the first study. Children who watch less TV are more likely to finish college, said the second. Children who watch TV before age 3 scored lower on standardized tests when they were 6, said a third.

"It's almost an addiction," Maura Meitz said. "I shut if off, and I come back, and it's back on."

It's not just test scores, said Tampa pediatrician Dr. Sharon Dabrow, who has researched children and TV-watching. Other studies say children who watch TV are more likely to have weight problems, and some suggest a link between TV violence and aggressive behavior.

This is a familiar message for many parents. But the picture of how TV affects children's learning has been fuzzier. Some studies are negative, while others say that preschoolers who watch educational TV shows, such as Blue's Clues and the Magic School Bus , do better on reading and math tests.

The American Academy of Pediatrics already recommends that children younger than 2 watch no TV, and that older kids watch a maximum of one to two hours of high-quality, educational TV each day.

But America ignores these recommendations. The average American child watches four hours of TV a day, more than double its recommendation, the academy says. Fifty-nine percent of children younger than 2 watch an average of 1.3 hours a day.

Dabrow, an associate professor at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, sees it herself when she tells her patients to turn it off.

"The kids think you're stupid and an old fart," she said. "Most parents agree and understand. It's just hard to do in our society, with 150 different channels."

It's not just the multitude of TV choices, Meitz said. It's the lack of other ones.

"When I was growing up, you could send kids out to play, and you didn't worry about them," she said. "You can't do that today."

So parents bargain and negotiate. They bribe. They lay down the law.

Meitz's kids, Christian and 15-year-old Sarah, are "excellent students" who have to get their homework done first. St. Petersburg residents Vinh and Nantika Ly tell 8-year-old Andy he can watch only on the weekends.

"On school days, there's no TV," Vinh Ly said. "We limit it (on weekends), just for kid programs."

St. Petersburg resident Taylor Baum is 6, but she knows the rules. "If I listen to her and clean up, I get to watch TV after," she said.

Suzanne Ballenger seeks alternatives - summer camp, swimming, shopping - for 5-year-old Brittany. "We do other things to occupy her brain," she said.

But all these kids already know their favorites.

" "SpongeBob SquarePants ," said Andy.

" "Teen Titans ," said Taylor.

" "That's So Raven ," said Brittany.

The three studies offer a glimmer of hope for the media generation. The first study found that children with access to a computer at home got higher test scores. The third found that preschoolers who watch TV test slightly higher on reading readiness.

An editorial in the same issue of the journal, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine , criticized all three studies for not looking at whether the children were watching high-quality TV.

That's a valid criticism, said Dina L.G. Borzekowski, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. But even measuring how much TV children really watch is hard - asking them often doesn't produce reliable answers. That's one reason Borzekowski and her co-author focused on whether children have a TV of their own when they designed the first study. That's a question with a concrete answer.

Even Borzekowski was surprised by the results.

"What I thought was quite amazing was the magnitude of the difference," she said.

She and her co-author surveyed more than 300 third-graders in six California school districts. About two-thirds always had a TV in their bedrooms.

The result: Students with bedroom TVs scored an average of 10 points lower in math; almost 8 points lower in reading; and almost 9 points lower in language arts.

In the second study, New Zealand researchers surveyed 1,000 children every few years, starting in the mid 1970s. By age 26, those who watched more TV as children were less likely to finish college.

Researchers in the third study analyzed test scores and TV-watching habits, using data from a national survey of almost 1,800 6-year-olds. They found that more time spent watching TV before the children were 3 was linked to lower test scores when the children were 6.

Borzekowski said parents should fight the urge to keep the old TV when they get a fancy new one. "The trick is, when the family gets a new TV, it's very difficult to just recycle it or put it out at the curb," she said. "Old media usually gets put in the child's bedroom."

Parents need to set rules, Dabrow said. She suggests that parents monitor what their children watch and not let kids eat while the TV is on.

"It really comes down to parents setting limits, and being consistent," she said.

Then there's the strategy of the program Dabrow runs at the USF Pediatric Clinic. From 6 months to 6 years old, every child who comes in for a checkup goes home with a gift.

A book.

[Last modified July 5, 2005, 01:33:21]