The TV Dilemma

Interesting article from The Oregonian newspaper:

One Portland family realizes the downside to watching the tube and manages it accordingly
by Linda Baker, The Oregonian

When it comes to television and their kids, Hilary and David Nally aren't purists. Ten-year-old Brenna and 7-year-old Kieran watch several hours of TV a week, including a Friday night video and occasional after-school viewing of Liberty's Kids on Oregon Public Broadcasting. When the children were younger, Hilary says, "I'll admit, we used to watch a full hour of Sesame Street."

But if TV has never been a prohibition in the Nally household, neither has it been an integral part of the Portland family's life. The Nallys don't have cable, and their television is 20 years old, a present from Hilary's parents after she graduated from college. "We were in agreement that less is better," says Hilary Nally, referring to the couple's attitude toward television viewing.

"When the kids do watch TV, they are glazed over; you can tell there's no thought process," she says. "I can't imagine energetic little bodies not being energetic little bodies."

A growing body of research links television to rising obesity and rates of attention-deficit disorders among children. National TV Turnoff Week, which starts Monday, is designed to call attention to these issues.

The key to preventing TV-related health and social problems, says Kaiser pediatrician Dr. Phil Wu, is awareness. "I say, whatever you do with TV, be thoughtful and think about what the possible consequences may be."

Wu cites studies showing a lower metabolism when a person is watching television than when he or she is sitting doing nothing at all. There are other tie-ins between television and obesity, Wu says. Every hour that kids watch television is another hour they could be physically active. Kids also tend to snack more when they are watching television, an activity junk food commercials encourage.

The Nallys, who participated in National TV Turnoff Week last year, said several factors make it easy for them to keep television under the family radar. First, Brenna and Kieran have a close relationship; instead of complaining about being bored, the siblings like to play ongoing imaginary games together, often up to hours at a time. Second, neither Hilary nor David watches much television, enabling the couple to model a TV-free lifestyle.

"Kids are drawn into it because of their parents," David Nally says. "It's kind of hard to say, 'We're watching TV, but you do something creative.' "

The couple also have made a point of not having the television in the living room. "Sometimes out of sight means out of mind," Hilary Nally says.

The Nallys find other benefits to keeping the television off, says David, a teacher at Hosford Middle School. Brenna and Kieran don't want to buy things they would otherwise see in commercials, he says. "And the content now is so undesirable now for young kids."

So far, Brenna seems to have taken her parents' low-key approach to heart. "A little bit of TV is OK," she says. "A lot's not."