SEATTLE — Parents who thought their preschoolers were spending time in home-based day cares, taking naps, eating healthy snacks and learning to play nicely with others may be surprised to discover they are sitting for up to two hours a day in front of a television set, according to a study published today.
When added to the two to three hours many parents admit to allowing at home, preschoolers in child care might be spending more than a third of the 12 hours or so that they are awake each day in front of the electronic babysitter, said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and a researcher at the University of Washington.
The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages television viewing of any kind in the first two years of life and recommends a daily limit of one to two hours of quality programming for older children.
