Even TV in the Background Impacts Brain Development in Children

Posted by Heartmind _Featured_, Conscious Parenting Monday, October 8th, 2012

Lisa Garber | Waking Times

Have you ever wondered why some babies are chatterboxes and others are quiet? Dr. Victor Strasburger can always tell which toddlers are being read to by grown-ups and which ones have the TV babysitter.

“The babies that are being read to are just chattering away, and the babies that sit in front of a TV are silent,” Strasburger says. “It means their language development is threatened—they may catch up, but it’s a concern.”

Language Development Impeded by TV

As a pediatrician, Strasburger has found that infants learn language (among other things) better from actual people than those behind a TV or computer screen. This is troubling given the first national estimate of background television exposure says the average American child spends 232 minutes with TV on in the background—about as much time as they spend in school.

Voices in the background can be comforting for many people, but for young children, the effects on development are not well known. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against children having any more than two hours around televisions as well as the internet.