Too much TV delays infant learning

Published on Tuesday 13 January 2009 19:08

ALLOWING toddlers to watch television can do more harm than good for their development, an international review has concluded.

Nine in ten children under the age of two watch television regularly, with some spending as much as 40 per cent of their waking hours in front of the box.

The review of research, carried out by Professor Dimitri Christakis from the Seattle Children's Research Institute concluded that television programmes or DVDs aimed at infants can delay language development.

And there is no scientific research in any of the 78 studies published over the past 25 years to demonstrate that TV viewing benefits toddlers, warns the review, published in the journal Acta Paediatrica.

Prof Christakis said: "The weight of existing evidence suggests the potential for harm, and I believe that parents should exercise due caution in exposing infants to excessive media."