Baby DVDs, videos may hinder, not help, infants' language d...( Parents of the 8 to 16 month olds wer...),Health

Parents of the 8 to 16 month olds were asked how many of a list of about 90 words their child understood. Typical words on this list included choo choo, mommy and nose. Parents of the 17 to 24 month olds were asked how many words on a similar list they had heard their child use. Typical words from this list were truck, cookie and balloon.

Parents also were asked about how often they read books or told stories to their children. Daily reading and storytelling were associated with slight increases in language skills, not a surprising finding since both activities foster language development, Zimmerman said.

The researchers believe the content of baby DVDs and videos is different from the other types of programming because it tends to have little dialogue, short scenes, disconnected pictures and shows linguistically indescribable images such as a lava lamp. By contrast, childrens educational programs, which make up the largest viewing category at this age, are, crafted and tested to meet developmental needs of preschool children.

We dont know for sure that baby DVDs and videos are harmful, but the best policy is safety first. Parents should limit their exposure as much as possible, said Zimmerman. Over the course of childhood, children spend more time watching TV than they do in school. So parents need to spend as much time monitoring TV and other media viewing as they do in monitoring their childrens school activities.

The researchers believe more research is required, particularly to examine the long-term effects of baby DVDs and videos on childrens cognitive development.

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Contact: Joel Schwarz
joels@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
8-Aug-2007

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