from University of Pennsylvania and University of Iowa
Remember when we first heard about secondhand cigarette smoke? Well, now there may be an audio equivalent—background TV. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Iowa are the first to provide accurate estimates of children’s exposure to background TV. They say from age eight months to eight years, children are exposed to nearly four hours of background TV each day. Previous research has shown children with high exposure to background TV may have poorer performance in cognitive and reading tasks. Fortunately, the researchers say there are specific solutions—removing televisions from children’s bedrooms and remembering to shut off the TV if nobody is watching.