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Home Daycare Turns Kids Into Couch Potatoes

Child-care centers do far better at restricting boob tube time

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 23, 2009 5:35 PM CST

(Newser) – Children in home-based daycare watch far more TV than kids in formal child-care centers, with preschoolers averaging as much as 3.4 hours a day. The numbers in a new survey haven't changed much from stats recorded in previous years, which the researchers say they find "disconcerting, given the intervening publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines regarding television use for young children."

"Our findings highlight just how pervasive screen time is for very young US children," write the researchers, who note that excessive TV watching in this age group is linked to language delay, obesity, and decreased attention spans, the Los Angeles Times reports.

An 11-month old watches TV.
An 11-month old watches TV.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Hip
Nov 24, 2009 12:22 PM CST
I wonder what the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines are regarding maternity leave? Are they happy with the pathetic six weeks American women get to stay home and raise their kids? Today's babies need to spend much more time at home with their mommies...and much less time at home-based daycares OR formal child care centers.
It_Smells_Funky.
Nov 24, 2009 12:18 PM CST
TV is a beautiful thing, gotta ensure an audience in the next generations.
schmidtkoff
Nov 24, 2009 2:11 AM CST
tell your children stories, read them books. minimal tv and lots of intellectual stimulation, physical exercise and love.
 

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