2011 AAP Policy Statement - Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years

The temptation to rely on media screens to entertain babies and toddlers is more appealing than ever, with screens surrounding families at home, in the car, and even at the grocery store. And there is no shortage of media products and programming targeted to little ones. But a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, www.aap.org) says there are better ways to help children learn at this critical age.

On average, children this age watch televised programs one to two hours per day. By age 3, almost one third of children have a television in their bedroom. Parents who believe that educational television is "very important for healthy development" are twice as likely to keep the television on all or most of the time.

This policy statement, ''Media Use by Children Younger Than Two Years," was be released on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in Boston and will be published in the November 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online Oct. 18). In this video Ari Brown,.MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy, discusses the recommendations of this report during the 2011 AAP National Conference held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

• Category

  Entertainment

[Barbara Smith]

Hurray, great video......anything is more valuable than screen time for such young children. Even just day dreaming has its merits, Young children need to see and touch objects to learn.

Barbara Smith,M.S., OTR/L

FromRattlestowriting com

[Shelly Phillips]

I'd like to see a study of the effects on infant brain development of looking at screens with quickly moving objects on them. It seems like a whole lot of visual stimulation for infants.

[Melissa Morgenlander]

Thanks for asking the co-viewing question!