Any kind of excess exposure to television is not good for the development of children, even when they are not involved in active watching and TV is playing in the background, researchers warn parents.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children should not be exposed to TV before age two and children older than two should limit their TV time between one and two hours a day.
However, the study found American children exposed to background TV for four hours, pointing out the negative impact of the occurrence on children.
Jessica Taylor Piotrowski and colleagues drew the conclusion after interviewing more than 1,450 parents or care givers. All the participants, having children aged between eight months and eight years old shared the daily routine of their children like sleeping and eating and also the presence of TV in the background during each activity.
Researchers found children being exposed to background TV almost four hours a day. The exposure was found dramatically higher among small children less than two years (5.5 hours), children of single parents, poor families and people with TV in their rooms.
According to the researchers, like active watching, the indirect exposure can also harm the child's development.
"Experimental studies have shown that background TV exposure has been linked to lower attention when kids are playing and weaker parent-child interactions," Piotrowski told The Huffington Post. "We do know from experimental studies that we should be concerned about it, but we don't know about a threshold at which it becomes a problem."
Taking simple steps like turning off the TV during the child involves in other activities like sleeping and when no one is watching TV can reduce the negative effects of background TV exposure.
Findings of the study have been published online Monday in Pediatrics.
Earlier studies have linked the TV watching time having a negative impact on children's basic motor skills and physical activity. Kids addicted to TV were found eating junk food and avoiding healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.
