In addition to the troubling 80 minutes of TV that the average child in the United States watches each and every day, a new study released on Monday found that the amount of "secondhand" exposure to television for young children was "staggering" and should be of additional concern to parents and pediatricians both.
So-called indirect or "background" TV exposure can detract from play, homework, and family time, a new study finds. (Photo: Getty images)The study, Background Television in the Homes of US Children, which appeared in the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics discovered that the average child between 8 month and 8 years old is exposed to 232.2 minutes (nearly four hours) of this secondhand television on a typical day. Averages were even highest, they found, among young toddlers, African American children, and those who had televisions in their bedrooms.
Although other recent research has shown the negative consequences associated with background television, the new study focused on determining "how much" of this exposure children were receiving by asking parents to keep of kids' exposure with a 24-hour time diary. The amount of exposure for the average child, they said, was "startling".
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