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Data Suggest Children Watch Entire Day's Worth of Television Each Week
New data from television monitoring group Nielsen suggest that each week children spend an average of an entire day watching television, representing an eight-year high for television viewing among children, the Los Angeles Times reports. Based on an analysis of consumption of live and recorded television viewing, as well as DVD, VCR and game console usage, the data reveal that children ages 2 to 5 watch television for more than 32 hours per week, averaging three hours and 47 minutes per day, while children ages 6 to 11 watch 28 hours per week, an average of three hours and 20 minutes per day. The analysis is based on a sample of 6,700 children in the fourth quarter of 2008. Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy, attributes the increase to more programming targeted at children, as well as the increased availability of video-on-demand, which has proven particularly popular among younger children. Children’s health advocates have expressed concern over the findings, noting that increased television watching is associated with childhood obesity and linguistic developmental delays. Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children younger than age 2 and no more than two hours per day for children older than 2 years of age. Vic Strasburger, a professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, notes that “the biggest misconception is that it’s harmless entertainment,” adding that “media are one of the most powerful teachers of children that we know of. When we in this society do a bad job of educating kids about sex and drugs, the media pick up the slack” (Gold, Los Angeles Times, 10/27/09 [registration required]; Nielsen Wire, 10/26/09).