Fuel To Ad Fire: Study Says 90% of 2-Year-Olds Watch TV

A new study published by the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute found that by the age of 3 months, 40% of infants are regularly viewing television and DVDs, rising to 90% for 2-year-olds. The study is based on telephone surveys of more than 1,000 families in Minnesota and Washington state. The results, published in the peer-reviewed Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, should provide more fodder for critics of TV advertising targeting children.

"This study is only going to add more fuel to the fire," says Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. "It really indicates how pervasive and powerful marketers and media have become."

The UW survey inquired about parents' reasons for letting children watch TV, revealing some surprising motivations. Far from using TV as a substitute babysitter, 29% of parents said they believed it made their children smarter, sometimes buying products like "Baby Einstein" or "Brainy Baby" that claim to aid cognitive development in infants.

advertisement

advertisement

The new UW study also has implications for advertisers, as it seems to buttress arguments linking the sensory saturation of TV advertising to the popularity of unhealthy foods among children. In one book on the subject, Michael Jacobson, the director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, notes, "between the ages of two and five, the average American kid watches nearly four hours of TV each day." Jacobson also observes, "6-month-old babies are already forming mental images of corporate logos and mascots. By the time they are 3 years old, most children are making specific requests for brand-name products."

That's no coincidence, Chester says, pointing out that the "entire global media system is refocusing to target children and youth. Cradle-to-grave marketing is part of the advertising industry's mantra today." He concluded: "There's no question that the media and advertising industry have embraced an approach designed to drive children to be, foremost, consumers of products--including food products that are really unhealthy."

A second study finding centered on attention deficit. A 2004 study from the same UW research institute found that on average, the likelihood of hyperactive disorders later in life grows by 10% increments with each hour of daily TV viewing before the age of 3.

A second study led by Jeffrey G. Johnson of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute suggested a similar correlation between early TV viewing as an infant and teenage hyperactivity. The study followed 678 families over a 20-year period.

Next story loading loading..