There is no evidence linking enhanced cognitive development in babies and educational videos according to a new study released in March by the Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The study published in the journal Pediatrics, monitored over 800 children from birth until the age of three. Children from the age of six months to a year watched approximately 0.9 hours of TV per day. The number of viewing hours increased steadily as the child aged: 1.2 hours at one year, and 1.4 hours at two years.
The 872 children were administered two I.Q. tests by staff at Harvard Medical school in order to test their cognitive development including vocabulary and reasoning ability.
In contrast to claims made by distributors of baby educational videos the study suggested that the children who spent more time viewing TV had lower language and visual motor skills at age three.
"There's still more evidence of harm then benefit," Marie Evens Schmidt, a developmental psychologist instructor at Harvard Medical School told CNN.com, "as far as TV viewing in infancy is concerned."
