1. General Television Statistics

2. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co.  The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV- watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

3. Television by the Numbers  Number of TV sets in the average U.S. household: 2.24  Percentage of U.S. homes with three or more TV sets: 66  Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes  Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66  Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion

4. Children by the Numbers  Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5  Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680  Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours  Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500  Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70

5. How TV Affects Your Children  The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to avoid television and other electronic media for children two years of age and under.-- AAP statement, August 2, 1999  http://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=742p3HBMO3w&fea ture=related http://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=742p3HBMO3w&fea ture=related

6. ATTENTION RELATED PROBLEMS Research now indicates that for every hour of television children watch each day, their risk of developing attention- related problems later increases by ten percent. For example, if a child watches three hours of television each day, the child would be thirty percent more likely to develop attention deficit disorder.--D. Christakis, Pediatrics, April 2004

7.  Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral disorder in children, affecting as many as two million American children. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder  What causes ADHD? Researchers don’t know for sure, but few studies have investigated whether environment plays a pivotal role in the development of the condition.  Some researchers believe that overstimulation of the brain through television viewing during early childhood may shorten children’s attention spans.  A new study in the April 2004 issue of Pediatrics found that hours of television viewed daily at ages one and three was associated with attentional problems at age seven.

8. Dimming the mind  Effects of television on the body: relaxes the internal organs, heart beat slows, pulse rate evens out, and brain waves go into relaxed pattern.  The normal critical thinking you do shuts down.

12. Television and Obesity  By 1994, the most recent year for which the federal government has statistics, nearly 14 percent of children in the U.S. ages 6 through 11 were overweight. In 1965, only 5 percent were. In 1994, an additional 20 percent weighed enough to be considered at risk of becoming obese.

13. Education and Television  One research study found that TV's effects on education were long term. The study found that watching TV as a child affected educational achievement at age 26. Watching more TV in childhood increased chances of dropping out of school and decreased chances of getting a college degree, even after controlling for confounding factors.

15. Reducing the Impact of Television  Limit viewing time  Keep TV out of the child’s room  Watch TV with your child  Watch educational programs (Animal Planet etc…)  Be active