Television viewing associates with delayed language development

Abstract

Aim: To identify impact of television viewing on language development. Methods: The case‐control study included 56 new patients with language delay and 110 normal children, aged 15–48 months. Language delay was diagnosed by reviewing language milestones and Denver‐II. Television viewing variables and child/parental characteristics between both groups were interviewed. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and chi‐square test. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated from multivariate logistic regression model. Results: Forty‐six boys and 10 girls; mean [±SD] age, 2.11 ± 0.47 years of the case group and 59 boys and 51 girls; mean [±SD] age, 2.23 ± 0.80 years of the control group were enrolled. Children who had language delay usually started watching television earlier at age 7.22 ± 5.52 months vs. 11.92 ± 5.86 months, p‐value < 0.001 and also spent more time watching television than normal children (3.05 ± 1.90 h/day vs. 1.85 ± 1.18 h/day; p‐value < 0.001). Children who started watching television at <12 months of age and watched television >2 h/day were approximately six times more likely to have language delays. Conclusions: There is a relationship between early onset and high frequency of TV viewing and language delay.