HHS HealthBeat (November 20, 2008)

Moms and babies watching

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

TV grabs attention. And a look at data on mothers of six-month-olds says not a lot of words pass between mothers and babies during TV time.

Alan Mendelsohn of New York University School of Medicine checked that among low-income moms. His study in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The study found moms and kids interacted somewhat more when they both watched educational programming. But about half the programs weren’t intended for kids at all, and watching them didn’t increase the interaction. And Mendelsohn says there’s no evidence a six-month-old gets anything from even educational programming:

``Given that TV may not be such a terrific opportunity for verbal interactions, they should look for opportunities to interact in other activities, such as reading aloud and playing.’’ (9 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November, 20 2008