Kids Health Notes

Do your children watch TV all day long?

by Grace on September 11th, 2007

My child is probably one of the many who watch these toddler shows all the time. The same sets of DVDs over and over again. I don’t even have to watch them to know what the scenes are. Actually neither does she! She has already ‘memorized’ what happens next. A friend told me before that watching the same shows over and over again is good for brain exercise, or something like that.

Unfortunately, my daughter wants to watch the same shows the whole day and pesters me “again, Mommy, one more time!” It’s very tempting to just turn the TV on, or allow a show to repeat just one more time, just so I have unhindered time to work on something else.

And yet, all my maternal instincts tell me this isn’t good for her, now or in the long run. Yeah, my concerns were justified when I read this report on the link between childhood TV viewing and teenage attention problems (The full report is linked).

Children who watch television more than two hours a day are more likely to have attention problems when they are teenagers, according to Otago University researchers.

Young children who watched a lot of television were more likely to continue the habit as they got older, but even if they did not the damage was done, the report said.

I really have a two-pronged problem up my sleeve now.

1. How do I get this excessive TV viewing out of my child’s system?

2. How do I find alternative activities for my child that doesn’t involve me constantly playing with her?

Any tips from fellow parents are needed ASAP.

Tags: children, health, habits, television, watching, TV, viewing, attention, mental health, behavior

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POSTED IN: Healthy Development and Habits, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, Teen Health