Return to Main Menu

Parents urged to turn off media for sake of children by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations More than a generation can claim the TV as their nanny, but the explosion in other media devices has children’s attention spreading like their expanding waist sizes.   The sedentary lifestyle that excessive TV and computer-use encourages is a leading cause of obesity and related diseases in youth. Additionally, research shows that viewing TV and computers for extended periods of time also interferes with their mental development. Bill Basco, M.D., a general pediatrician. Basco advocates turning off TV and all other media, including cell phones, iPods, and electronic games to allow children to focus on tangible interactions and experiences.   “We’ve been doing this in our house since my oldest child was in pre-school,” said Basco, which totals about seven years now. “There was a lot of gnashing of teeth for the first few days, and we had to get the children through withdrawals. But after a week, no one seemed to know there wasn’t a TV on in the house. And this continued for an entire month.  …The whole house was less chaotic, and the children started discovering things like their own toys.”   Basco was introduced to the idea of turning off the TV when in response to a push by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reduce screen time through his child’s school. Since, his family participates in the annual national Turnoff Week in April, which began in the 1970s to combat too much TV-viewing by children. Turnoff Week now includes all forms of media that have grabbed children’s attention.   The theme of this year’s program is “We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition),” a science-based national education program from NIH to help children ages 8-13 stay at a healthy weight. We Can is working with the Center for Screen Time Awareness (CSTA) and other national and community organizations to raise public awareness about the negative impact of excessive screen time. CSTA is a leading nonprofit organization focused on the impact of electronic media on society, health, education, family and community.   While children will discover their toys, siblings and parents during this period, they also may become more physically active and exhibit better behavior.   “Behavior pro-blems and poor academic performance have been linked with increased media exposure by children,” Basco said, citing a University of Washington—Seattle, study.   Stephanie Aston-Jones, the admini-strator for Basco, also has noticed an improvement with her grandson when the focus is turned away from the TV and other electronic distractions. She recalls an early interest in children’s response to TV viewing during college.   “When I was in college, I wrote a paper on the affects of excessive TV viewing by children. Research proved that TV interfered with a child’s cerebral development causing the brain’s right and left hemispheres to form improperly,” said Aston-Jones. “The study concluded that children should be prevented from watching TV at an early age.”   Meanwhile, according to NIH, children and teens who spend more than an average of two hours a day in front of a TV, video, or computer screen, are more likely to be overweight than their peers who limit their screen time.   NIH and MUSC are urging parents to turn off the screens and get active with their children.   Although the Turnoff Week awareness campaign formally lasts only seven days each year, NIH is encouraging parents to regularly limit recreational screen time to fewer than two hours a day.   The Department of Health and Human Services’ Childhood Overweight and Obesity Coordinating Council is working with communities to foster programs such as We Can! For information, visit  http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov.     Friday, April 25, 2008 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.