Notify babies! Bring children from six months before the TV or DVDs or video games is not the best idea to promote their cognitive development and language. That's what a new study published in the 'Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine'.
From November 2005 to January 2008, New York researchers have recruited mother-infant pairs who chose to attend the Bellevue Hospital in New York as the establishment of PMI.
Mothers volunteers, all aged over 18 were asked to rate the total daily exposure of their child in various media: television programs, DVDs, video games.
They also had to recall the content of these programs.
This period lasted through the sixth month of the child.
At fourteen months, the researchers conducted an assessment of language development and children's cognitive development. This last point is the maturation of the nervous tissue and language, all under the influence of social and physical environment that surrounds the child.
In total, 259 children, slightly more than 2/3 of the initial sample, which will be assessed at 14 months.
And the study shows two things: the duration of exposure is an important factor. An hour of TV a day to six months leads to an alteration of 14 months test scores. On average, the results tend to be worse than one third the average for that age.
There is the quantity but also quality, and this is the second lesson of this study. When a child of six months has been exposed to programs for children older than himself, it is not without consequences either. Again, cognitive development at 14 months was adversely affected.
These stations extended in front of the screen then precludes gaming activities and interactions with other children and parents.
These results are particularly interesting as they relate to families with low socioeconomic level. You can imagine that these resource-poor families are in television, a way of 'care' more economical and sustainable only paid child care systems.
But this work also shows that the allegations of some industrial suppliers of audiovisual content are inaccurate. Programs for 'Baby TV' do nothing to advance these babies six months, quite the contrary.
The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that we should not expose children to the media before the age of 2 years. This provision seems virtually impossible.
But it still seems important to limit the role of 'nurse' too often played the television screen.
Easier said than done, of course, but it still deserves that there splint!