Does Children's Watching of Television Cause Attention Problems? Retesting the Hypothesis in a Danish Cohort

To the Editor. In a recent issue of Pediatrics , Christakis et al1 reported an association between the number of hours of watching television close to 2 and 4 years and parents' report on their children's behavior in early school age. Based on the findings, the authors suggest that we generally limit young children's television use. This is probably a good idea, but we question whether this report creates additional evidence for this advice. The authors reported a 9% increase in risk of attention problems for each daily hour of television-watching. The measure of adverse behavior was based on a score of maternal report of child behavior including restlessness, concentration problems, impulsiveness, confusion, and obsession. A similar association …