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Health

Turning on the TV does not turn off a toddler's brain

By Ferris Jabr

26 October 2011

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The benefit a child gets from TV depends on the show they watch (Image: Paco Gãmez Garcã/age fotostock/Getty

PARENTS should keep children under the age of 2 away from television screens because . That’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in 1999. The academy has now renewed its opposition, claiming that the latest evidence shows toddler TV impairs language development and attention. The reality, however, is more complicated.

In one sense, TV indirectly impairs cognitive development if it takes up too much of a toddler’s…

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