Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Does TV Cause Autism?
Thursday, January 25, 2007

One of the more explosive nuggets in the Bush-Baby Einstein fracas is the nugget that watching television and, by extension, videos might actually cause autism. This topic came up at lunch today with a group of parents of young children. Most were skeptical. The notion sounds preposterous on the surface, unless it's one of those things were drinking 800 gallons of Johnson's baby shampoo causes colon cancer.

But not so fast. It turns out there may be some science behind the claim. A report in Slate last October cites a new study from Cornell:

Today, Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3. The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were to exhibit symptoms of autism disorders.
The Cornell study represents a potential bombshell in the autism debate. "We are not saying we have found the cause of autism, we're saying we have found a critical piece of evidence," Cornell researcher Michael Waldman told me. Because autism rates are increasing broadly across the country and across income and ethnic groups, it seems logical that the trigger is something to which children are broadly exposed. Vaccines were a leading suspect, but numerous studies have failed to show any definitive link between autism and vaccines, while the autism rise has continued since worrisome compounds in vaccines were banned. What if the malefactor is not a chemical? Studies suggest that American children now watch about four hours of television daily. Before 1980—the first kids-oriented channel, Nickelodeon, dates to 1979—the figure is
believed to have been much lower.

Gregg Easterbrook, the author of the article and a well-known counter-intuitive science writer, concludes:

Everyone complains about television in a general way. But if it turns out television has specific harmful medical effects—in addition to these new findings about autism, some studies have linked television viewing by children younger than 3 to the onset of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—parents may urgently need to know to keep toddlers away from the TV. Television networks and manufacturers of televisions may need to reassess how their products are marketed to the young. Legal liability may come into play. And we live in a society in which bright images on screens are becoming ever more ubiquitous: television, video games, DVD video players, computers, cell phones. If screen images cause harm to brain development in the young, the proliferation of these TV-like devices may bode ill for the future.
The aggressive marketing of Teletubbies, Baby Einstein videos, and similar products intended to encourage television watching by toddlers may turn out to have been a nightmarish mistake. If television viewing by toddlers is a factor in autism, the parents of afflicted children should not reproach themselves, as there was no warning of this risk. Now there is: The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends against any TV for children under the age of 2. Waldman thinks that until more is known about what triggers autism, families with children under the age of 3 should get them away from the television and keep them away.

Labels: Family

Posted by B Feiler at 6:20 PM
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1 Comments:

mcewen said...: O.k., so this is blatant self promotion, but it's also funny, and gives my perspective on the television corruption issues.
Just try and giggle and don't take it too seriously.
Best wishes
http://whitterer-autism.blogspot.com/2006/11/dreaded-telly.html; January 25, 2007 10:10:00 PM EST