this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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I do not understand the amount of uninformed objections to the presented results in a number of comments here ... you can't just discount the results of a peer-reviewed study with some generic knee-jerk interjection off the top of your head. Read the original article here. It details which covariates were considered and how they were taken into account. Income bracket, educational background, gender, .... all this shit is not new to researchers.
Don't get me wrong: JAMA Pediatrics being a reputable journal shouldn't lull you into complacency, but JFC, just because you don't agree with the findings of a study doesn't mean you have to dismiss it completely on first glance.
I do not see any breakdown between quantity/quality though.
It’s one thing to plop a kid in front of “junk food TV”, compared to wholesome TV, educational TV/factual documentaries, or educational games (like Homer or ABC Mouse).
Yes, obviously human interaction is necessary for human development, and more screen time will likely mean less human interaction, unless a caregiver is actively engaging the child about the content.
I still contend that there’s “good screentime” and “bad screentime”, and like food, the secret sauce is moderation.
It's not the quality of the show or the content that matters. Have you ever put a small child in front of the TV? It's like turning their brains off. To be honest it's quite startling.
It doesn't matter if its "wholesome" content or not - there is a physical decreases of core brain activity as the child disengages from the world.
This point is actually acknowledged in the study findings under "Strengths and Limitations":
The original data used in the study did not allow this differentiation but these findings can be used as a starting point for further research.
I'll tell you that even at 4 I see differences in my son's behavior if he watches Turtles or if he watches something like Puffin Rock.