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. 2021 Aug;21(6):988-995.
doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2020.11.002. Epub 2020 Nov 5.

Infant Television Watching Predicts Toddler Television Watching in a Low-Income Population

Alexander J Hish  1 , Charles T Wood  2 , Janna B Howard  2 , Kori B Flower  3 , H Shonna Yin  4 , Russell L Rothman  5 , Alan M Delamater  6 , Lee M Sanders  7 , Aihua Bian  8 , Jonathan S Schildcrout  8 , Eliana M Perrin  9
Affiliations

Infant Television Watching Predicts Toddler Television Watching in a Low-Income Population

Alexander J Hish et al. Acad Pediatr. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the development of active television (TV) watching behaviors across the first 2 years of life in a racially and ethnically diverse, low-income cohort and identifies caregiver and child predictors of early TV watching.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from infants enrolled in the active control group (N = 235; 39% Latino; 29% Black; 15% White) of Greenlight, a cluster randomized multisite trial to prevent childhood obesity. At preventive health visits from 2 months to 2 years, caregivers were asked: "How much time does [child's first name] spend watching television each day?" Proportional odds models and linear regression analyses were used to assess associations among TV introduction age, active TV watching amount at 2 years, and sociodemographic factors.

Results: Sixty-eight percent of children watched TV by 6 months, and 88% by 2 years. Age of TV introduction predicted amount of daily active TV watching at 2 years, with a mean time of 93 minutes if starting at 2 months; 64 minutes if starting at 4 or 6 months; and 42 minutes if starting after 6 months. Factors predicting earlier introduction included lower income, fewer children in household, care away from home, male sex, and non-Latino ethnicity of child.

Conclusions: Many caregivers report that their infants actively watch TV in the first 6 months of life. Earlier TV watching is related to sociodemographic factors yet predicts more daily TV watching at 2 years even controlling those factors. Interventions to limit early TV watching should be initiated in infancy.

Keywords: infants; pediatrics; screen media; screen time; television.

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Conflict of interest statement

POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: The authors have no conflicts of interest or financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Trends in child television (TV) watching from 2 months to 24 months of age. The percentage of children in each of the TV watching groups at each well visit is presented.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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