TV + bedroom = bad idea.
Putting a television in your child’s bedroom is a bad idea.
That’s the conclusion of a study published in the April, 2008 issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The authors studied 781 adolescents to determine the differences between kids who have access to a TV in their bedroom versus those who do not. The results are eye-opening. 62% of the children reported having a TV in their bedroom. The kids with TVs reported not only more time watching television, but also less time exercising, poorer dietary habits, fewer family meals, and poorer school performance. Other studies have found similarly concerning results in younger children.
The AAP recommends that children not have TVs in their bedrooms. I would take this a step further, and recommend that all TVs be kept out of all bedrooms. Parents: for a better night’s sleep and better adult relationships, use your bed only for sleeping and one other thing—but not watching television.
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The Pediatric Insider 
April 21, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I couldn’t agree more. We don’t have a TV in our bedroom, nor do I want one ever, because I found I stay up too late watching it – and then fall asleep with disturbed sleep with it on.
In addition to no TV in the bedrooms, our Pediatrician recommended no TV for our toddler after late afternoon. We implemented this and found she sleeps much, much better. Now that she is almost 3 years old and can communicate with us better, we find that she wakes up dreaming about TV shows she’s watched, especially if she’s seen them late in the day.
Our TV now stays off most of the time, except for that first hour on Saturday and Sundays, when the kids are wide awake! Super Why is actually a pretty good show and keeps her attention for a full 30 minutes! We can rest on the sofa for another 30-60 minutes so that it feels more like a weekend!
Thanks, Dr. Roy!
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April 21, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I agree! Not only do we not have TVs in any of our bedrooms, we also limit TV watching to watching one program (or movie) a day. TV is not a default activity but something the kids have to ask permission to do.
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April 21, 2008 at 9:15 pm
It’s TV Turnoff week: http://www.tvturnoff.org/. Give it a try!
Also: a new trial published in March, 2008 (http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/162/3/239) showed that a simple intervention to reduce television and computer time among children aged 4-7 led to a substantial drop in the percentage of children who were overweight. This seemed to occur by decreasing the kid’s caloric consumption, more than by increasing their physical activity! So watching more TV not only makes your kids more sedentary, but leads to a dramatic increase in calories consumed. This is probably a result of all of the food advertising on TV.
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May 14, 2008 at 8:04 am
I really think that No Tv in bedroom is right, because there’s lots of stress if you put TV in bedroom, and the scientists experiment difference between the Yes TV in bedroom and No TV in bedroom, If you have TV in your bedroom, you get lower score, and also there’s lots of problems in health.
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May 28, 2008 at 11:11 pm
It’s not the childs or T.Vs Fault….Whos fault it is is the parents. There are many blocks that parents can put of their childrens T.Vs to prevent them from watching to much T.V, it can also block channels if the parents want to go that far. Parents are putting to many restrictions on children and its causing children to hate there parents. it isn’t the same as when you were a kid the world is changing..get used to it there is nothing you can do to stop it!
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