Background TV a threat to U.S. kids, researchers say

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – That clamor in the background? It’s probably the TV, and it might be taking a toll on your toddler’s development, researchers say. According to the first national estimate of background television exposure, children in the U.S. spend nearly as much time around a switched-on television as they do in school. Between the age of eight months and eight years, kids spend an average of 232 minutes a day with the TV droning on in the background, researchers found. …