Coming soon to a cable provider near you: the first 24-hour TV channel for babies. That’s right – babies. On 5/11, _CBS News_ reported that _BabyFirstTV_, a commercial-free network aimed at children 6 months to 3 years old, soon will be available for $9.99 per month. Offering everything from sign language training to games, one of the network’s founders claims that watching TV together helps inspire the bond between parent and child.
h3(matt). Matt’s View
p(matt). Aside from the irony that this story was reported by a TV news organization, the more important point is that the _American Academy of Pediatrics_ recommends no TV watching at all for children under the age of two. None. Zero. Zip. The Academy points out that the first two years of life are especially important for the proper growth and development of a child’s brain. What young kids need most, according to the Academy, is a lot of positive interaction with other children and adults. For older children, the Academy recommends limiting TV watching to one or two hours per day.
p(matt). Of course, TV has its merits for us older kids (how else could we catch the Masters golf tournament?). But there’s a growing body of research quantifying the fact that the more TV a person watches the higher their caloric intake and, interestingly, the lower their savings.
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