effect of Tv on young children

Nowadays, almost all the children begin watching Tv at very young age. Some children watch Tv as they enjoy it but there are a few others watch it as their parents feel, it is good for them. Most of them feel the variuos educational programmes available, will help their children learn more and better this way.  I include myself in this group.
   
         When my daughter was 17 months old, she began showing interest in TV but I only let her watch when I had to keep her busy, so that I could do some of my daily chores like taking bath. I stopped watching my daily soaps and other programmes with her. I would watch them when she was sleeping, as I thought it is not good for younger children to watch television. But as she grew older her sleeping time became shorter and as a result my free time also reduced.
   
      Later on I tried to keep her busy in other activities like colouring, playing with blocks, reading books etc. BUT all these activities required my continous presence with her. All this made me reconsider my decision of not letting her watch television and not watching myself infront of her. So I set out to find the harmful effects of TV on young children. After doing a lot of research on internet this is what I found : 
     
              The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.A 2008 Thai study published in Acta Paediatrica found that if children under 12 months watched TV for more than two hours a day they were six times more likely to have delayed language skills.Infants as young as 14 months will imitate what they see on a TV screen, but they learn better from live presentations.
         
              Studies show that if the children see educational programmes rather than cartoons or other entrtainment based programmes relative to their age, they will have better pre-reading skills. Initial years of growth plays an important part in the development of the language and other cognitive skills of children and heavy tv viewing can interfere in that.
     
              Heavy TV viewing causes the children to become lazy, obese and  adversely affects their performance in school. They loose interest in other activities like reading books and playing outdoors with friends. Certain cartoon shows nowadays show sudden flashes of light which may cause damage to eyes and headaches if viewed for prolonged periods of time. Besides this  research also shows that Tv promotes aggressive behaviour in children. Sometimes certain Tv shows scare the children and they begin imagining things. As a result their sleep gets disturbed and behaviour changes.

                          My research led me to the conclusion that young children especially the pre-schoolers should be allowed to watch tv only for limited period of time and the programmes of educational content, related to their age only. THe following websites proved helpful to me:-
  
http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_tveffect.shtml
http://www.limitv.org/preschool.htm
http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/17540.html      
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html        
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113074419.htm