The prime time to break TV’s spell

Excessive hours in front of the television have been linked to childhood ills, including lower grades, obesity and increased violence. Because viewing habits become ingrained in the preschool years, researchers are realizing that preschoolers and their families must be taught to turn off the TV.

“The problem is that TV and video-viewing habits of preschool children and mothers are very correlated, so you probably have to change both,” said Dr. Barbara A. Dennison, a pediatrician at Bassett Healthcare’s Research Institute in Cooperstown, N.Y. She developed a program to do just that.

Dennison tested the program among kids ages 3 to 5 at preschools and day-care centers in upstate New York. She and her colleagues assigned kids at eight locations to a seven-session TV-reduction program; kids at eight other locations participated in an eight-session safety and injury prevention program. Youngsters in the TV-reduction program were encouraged to do other things they enjoyed, such as being read to, rather than watch TV. They also were rewarded with stickers for every TV-free day.

Before the program, the youngsters averaged 12 to 14 hours of television and videos each week. At the end of the study, those in the TV-reduction program had reduced their viewing by 3.1 hours a week; the kids in the control group had increased their viewing by 1.6 hours.

The percentage of kids in the TV intervention program who exceeded the two-hour-a-day limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics fell from 33% to 18%. But among the control group, that percentage rose from 41% to 47%.

The results were reported in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.