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<span class="sub-title">
Once favorite pastime for the entire
family now has its limitations</span><br />
by Victoria Pericon
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We all have fond childhood memories of
sitting in front of the television with our families enjoying our
favorite programs.  Television can not only be entertaining but can
also be instructive for adults and children alike.  Increasingly,
however, studies are indicating children are watching television much
more often than is generally considered to be healthy.  Ari Brown,
M.D., pediatrician and co-author of Baby 411, cites the position of
the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends that no
television or video use should be allowed before the age of two. 
Thereafter, the child should be allowed no more than two hours of
television viewing per day. &ldquo;Part of the reason is that TV and all
media are sedentary activities,&rdquo; says Dr. Brown, &ldquo;[another] part
of the reason is that even educational media is a passive form of
learning.&rdquo;
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According to some experts, excessive
television viewing among children can lead to many problems,
especially when television takes the place of healthy physical
activity.  Decreased exercise in children can lead to childhood
obesity, which results in many chronic illnesses that have recently
begun to appear in young children.  Another concern is that too much
television can be a substitute for reading, which is vital to a
child&rsquo;s intellectual development.
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Television can also be an isolating
experience if it is used as a child care tool. Watching television
unsupervised, the child could be viewing programs with content that
is too mature, frightening of violent.  Francois Thibaut, Director of
the The Language Workshop for Children, believes that when television
viewing is in moderation, and the program is carefully selected,
television can be educational, &ldquo;especially if the program watched
leads to a conversation between the child and the parent.&rdquo;
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There is wide disagreement whether
children should watch any television at all.  While Sam Reich-Dagnen,
mother of five year-old twins and founder of Braincandy videos
(<a href="http://www.braincandykids.com/">www.braincandykids.com</a>),
(which in addition to their DVD line, can be seen on Time Warner
Cable Pay-Per-View) does not advocate putting children in front of a
television for hours on end, she does find it helpful to have the
child watch television for an occasional fifteen minutes. &ldquo;The
catch is making sure that the content you put that child in front of
is good, enriching and engaging&mdash;content that creates a &lsquo;lean
forward&rsquo; experience and keeps your child actively participating.&rdquo;
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Mike Wasserman, M.D., general
pediatrician at Ochsner Clinic Foundation (<a href="http://www.ochsner.org/">www.ochsner.org</a>),
agrees with the belief that television should be off limits to all
children under two years of age.  However, Dr. Wasserman includes in
that ban all videos, DVD&rsquo;s and video games.  He also recommends
that older children should restricted to 90 minutes of television per
day. And most of that viewing, according to Dr. Wasserman, should
come from &ldquo;high quality&rdquo; shows found on PBS, Animal Planet,
Discover Channel and The History Channel.
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The discussion regarding children and
television continues.  There are certain points on which most people
do agree.  Experts as well as parents believe that it is important to
encourage children to engage in physical activity.  It is also
helpful to set specific guidelines for the amount of time your child
is allowed to watch television, especially on school nights when
homework has to be done and children need to be in bed at a
reasonable hour.  Finally, watch the programs your child is watching
with him so that you can monitor the content. &ldquo;Parents should
always preview a program before letting their child watch,&rdquo; says
Dr. Brown, &ldquo;and, ideally, should sit down and watch the program
together.&rdquo;
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<strong>
This article was written by Victoria Pericon.<br />
If you wish to use this article in any manner, you must <a href="index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=51&amp;Itemid=165">request permission</a>.</strong> 
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