PEDIATRICS Vol. 88 No. 1 July 1991, pp. 48-54
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Television and the 3- to 10-Year-Old Child

Anne-Claude Bernard-Bonnin MD1, Elizabeth Rousseau MD1, Pierre Masson MD1, Sophie Gilbert 2, and Brigitte Maheux MD3

1 From the Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Montreal
2 From the Department of School of Medicine, University of Montreal
3 From the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Montreal

A questionnaire on the use of television was administered to the parents of 387 children aged between 3 and 10 years. All families owned at least one television set and 57.6% of families owned two or more sets, with one in the child's bedroom in 10.6% of cases. Television was turned on all day in 16% of cases, mostly in families with low level of parental education (P < .01). Television was on at mealtime in 54.5% of cases; 45.2% of children were watching television for between 7 to 16 hours per week, and the heavy viewers belonged to families with low levels of maternal education (P < .05). About one third of children watched television without any interdiction set by their parents. According to age, from 28% to 40% of children watched violence on television. Parents believed that television facilitates learning (65.3%) but were concerned about violence (22.7%) and commercials (7.4%). Finally, 63.3% of parents reported that they would like to obtain more information about television use. According to this survey, many children are watching television without any limits being set by their parents and are witnessing violent scenes at an impressionable and vulnerable age. The pediatrician should include at routine office visits parental guidance on the mediation of television effects through coviewing, content discussion with children, and program selection.

Key Words: television • child • parental opinions

Submitted on February 16, 1990
Accepted on August 22, 1990




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