Yale study: ugly effects of too much media

Yale University's Medical School and the National Institutes of Health released a study of studies today. Culling data from 173 pieces of scientific research conducted since 1980, the researchers have found reams of evidence for negative associations between media use and poor child health, according to early news reports. To those of us who have been following the research on obesity and junk-food advertising, as well as the power of screen-based messages on young children and adolescents, the report is probably not a surprise. I'm eager to dig in and see how many of the studies focused on content -- since research has shown repeatedly that there is significance to the messages our children see. In fact, we often don't realize that they may not be learning what we think they are. (See an Outlook piece I wrote for The Washington Post about this problem and my blog post about it.)

The Benton Foundation links to multiple news reports on the study in its summary, "Too much media makes the baby go bad."

The New America Foundation and Common Sense Media is holding a briefing on the report right now in Washington, D.C. I'll link to the text of the report when it's available.