SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : How to maintain a well-balanced diet from the small screen

You wouldn’t pack your child’s “Lion King” lunch box with just Kool-Aid, Funyons, Twinkies, Snickers bars and Sour Patch Kids, would you?

If you answer, “Of course not,” you probably want to make sure your child has a balanced television diet.

In TV language, this means your child can watch the almighty “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”--considered in the “dessert category.” But be sure you round it out with a show such as Nickelodeon’s “Nick News”--the “main course.” If ABC’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” dashes across your screen often, he can be balanced out by the syndicated “Animal Adventures.”

At least, this is the analogy that communications research expert Milton Chen uses to encourage parents to be more aware of what their kids are watching.

To get kids to comply, bring TV into the family system, suggests Chen, author of “The Smart Parent’s Guide to Kids’ TV.” Many parents don’t realize how relevant television is--so much so, he asserts, that they should consider television as important in their kids’ learning as the child’s teacher. “Television is a very important medium. It has its effects, consciously and unconsciously.

“Parents make sure children are reared, make sure they are fed, clothed, get the right shots, are educated in schools, learn math and English,” he says. “But children learn from them . Teachers know that parents can do more in the first five years to educate their kids than teachers can do in 12 years. Children are wired to learn.” And smack in the middle of the living room during those formative years is the TV set, which parents can monitor.

Family viewing is the highest priority in smart viewing, according to Chen: “It really starts with families and values and parents’ interest in listening to their children and seeing what they’re watching.” Parents, he stresses, need to “balance out the junk.” If your child must watch the “Power Rangers,” encourage him or her to check out--by watching together--Disney’s “Ocean Girl,” an action-adventure show with an emphasis on ecology.

Chen, director of the Center for Education and Lifelong Learning at San Francisco PBS affiliate KQED, says he likes the concept of “webs of learning”--meaning one supports another; for example, TV helps school. He believes TV can promote many positives. “TV can support children’s interest in science, nature, computers, horseback riding, sports . . . there’s a range of programming beyond what is specifically produced for kids to support their interests.”

He cites his own recent family trip to South Africa as an example. He, his wife and 7-year-old daughter Maggie have developed an interest in the continent, animals, wildlife and politics as a result of the trip. “Now we watch programs about it, or ‘National Geographic Specials’ about elephants. We’re just one example of how our family interests are supported by television.”

Chen says that his own interests don’t interfere with his evaluation of good programming for kids. Some shows he recommends for their appropriate age groups are PBS’ “Barney,” “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,” “Ghostwriter” and Nick’s “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Nick News.”

He says he likes the BBC notion that “children’s programming should reflect a full range of adult programming,” such as news.

After age 10, kids are watching prime-time shows. “I can just encourage parents to find programs that are for general audiences, but carry positive and educational messages.” Chen says he suggests science and nature programs on Discovery, The Learning Channel and “National Geographic” specials.

But, above all, he stresses: Watch with your kids and balance their TV diet.

“The Smart Parent’s Guide to Kids’ TV” by Milton Chen is available from KQED Books for $8.95 and can be found in the parenting/education section of your local bookstore.