TVs and TIRED KIDS (and Parents)

Televisions have become so commonplace that we often barely notice their presence. Many families leave the tv on for most of the day, more like background noise than anything else. A article recently published in PEDIATRICS addresses the use of television in preschool aged kids, 3-5 years old. The roughly 600 children in the study showed an increase in sleep problems associated with evening media use (television and computers), especially when that tv was located in the child's bedroom. Additionally, the study found that watching violent programs increased sleep problems, regardless of the time of day that the program was viewed.

Interestingly, the average reported screen daily screen time was a little over an hour, with roughly 14 minutes occurring in the evening. Remember that these were 3-5 year old preschoolers, and the information was obtained from parents filling out media diaries and sleep questionnaires. If this information was accurate, then please note that even kids watching LESS than the recommended maximum of two hours per day were still affected. Nearly one in five parents reported sleep disturbance in their child. (As an aside, please note, parents, that the medical community strongly recommends NO TELEVISIONS in kids' bedrooms!)

We are learning more and more about the impact of computer screens on our brains, and consistently finding that screen evening screen use impairs the quality of sleep. For children, adolescents and adults alike, we need to go back to "the good old days" of READING or relaxing in a warm bath before bed...but remember to read from a BOOK, not an electronic reader!

BOTTOM LINE: Media screen viewing, especially in the evenings before bed, impair your quality of sleep. If you have daytime fatigue, focus on LIMITING your screen time!

Pull the Plug!

On the tv set, mind you! A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that despite the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics to limit children's television viewing to one or two quality shows per day and to remove tv's from kid's bedrooms, almost one in five TODDLERS have tv's in their bedrooms! There is no question that the kids with tv's in their bedrooms watch more than two hours per day. Of course they do- it's available all the time!
We know that excessive television exposure is linked with impaired childhood development and childhood obesity. Parents complain that their kids need to be entertained. Well, if they grow up BEING constantly "entertained" by the moving screen, is this a surprise?

Parents, I promise you that if you remove the tv and leave books and A FEW non-electronic toys in your child's room (legos, dolls, blocks) - your child's imagination will be STIMULATED and they WILL be happy and play! TRY IT!

BOTTOM LINE: REMOVE the tv's from kid's rooms and let their imaginations EXERCISE!

Screen Time Limits

Okay, it's summer, and my first suggestion was to RELAX. Does that mean vegging out in front of a screen? How much tv, videos, computer, iTouch, iPad, and iEverything is TOO much? Not surprisingly, I have an opinion, and so do the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the AMA. "Too much" is more than TWO HOURS per day.
Does that sound like a bunch? It does to me, but sadly, the average American kid may have over six hours of screen time per day, by the time you add in all the different media sources.

Does this mean you should never allow your kids a movie marathon day? Of course not. However, unsupervised, many kids would choose to spend their whole summer in front of a screen. Set up the rules at the BEGINNING of the summer, so you're not forced to break a bad habit. Your world does not need to revolve around this schedule. Simply help your kids to be aware that if they want to hang out and watch movies, play Wii, computer games, or text their friends all of one afternoon, they should plan NON-screen activities for the next day.

Another option is to make a rule "no screen time before 4:00pm"- that wouldn't automatically limit screen time to two hours, but it would certainly encourage everyone to find other activities during the day...even if they sleep late.

BOTTOM LINE: Limit TOTAL screen time to TWO HOURS per day.