US doctors discourage videos for babies under two
Oct-19-2011

Like 90 percent of American parents, Matthew Sullivan allows his infant daughter and five-year-old son to watch television, videos and sometimes web-streamed content on his smartphone.
He usually limits their screen viewing to just over an hour a day, and admits that handing his phone to his 16-month-old daughter so she can watch a YouTube video can keep her busy and quiet while they run errands together.
"We know it's not great for them, but it's not bad either," Sullivan, a 36-year-old editor in Wilmington, Delaware, told AFP.
Over the past decade, media has pervaded the developed world to such an extent that the American Academy of Pediatrics on Tuesday issued its first guidelines since 1999 to discourage any screen time for kids under two.
The largest US pediatricians' group says some of the 50 or so studies on the topic have shown that screen viewing can be linked to slower language development.
In a new twist, it also warned parents to be aware of the negative effects their own screen-watching can have on their children.
"I like to call it secondhand TV," said pediatrician Ari Brown, who is the lead author of the AAP guidelines, in an interview with AFP.
"When the TV is on, the parent is talking less. There is some scientific evidence that shows that the less talk-time a child has, the poorer their language development is," she said.
"Clearly, no one is listening to this message. In this ubiquitous screen world, I think we need to find a way to manage it, and make it a healthy media diet."
The latest guidelines do not refer to interactive play such as video games on smartphones or other devices, but to media watched passively on any kind of screen, be it phone, computer, television or other.
"This updated policy statement provides further evidence that media -- both foreground and background -- have potentially negative effects and no known positive effects for children younger than two years," it said.
"Thus the AAP reaffirms its recommendation to discourage media use in this age group."

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