Center on Media and Child Health

"Can an iPhone be good for your 3 year old?" Discussion

Earlier this month, Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH, was quoted in an article titled "Why an iPhone Could Actually Be Good for your 3-year-old." Writer Neil Swidey explores what benefits may come from letting preschoolers play with iPhones and the apps that are being made specifically for their age group. 

Last week, the Elliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at nearby Tufts University organized a brown bag lunch for faculty, grad students, and others to come discuss the article.  One of the goals of the session was to come up with potential questions and topics for further exploration by the research community.  Here is a summary of the panelists' ideas from what turned out to be a very lively discussion:

Professor Richard Lerner wondered if we are destroying the integrity of the established developmental sequence by always trying to "hurry-up" childhood learning.

Professor Marina Bers was very interested in how apps could be designed specifically to optimize children's learning instead of trying to evaluate whether what's currently offered is beneficial.

Professor Ann Easterbrooks thinks that we need to find out if kids are able to receive the  things they need to thrive through the use of smartphones. 

Writer Neil Swidey pondered the "video deficit" (it takes kids a lot longer to learn something from a video than for them to learn something from a person).  He wonders if smartphones are an "in-between" way of delivering instruction that would decrease the amount of time it takes to learn from a video because smartphones allow for interaction.

So graduate students -- if you don't have a dissertation topic yet and the deadline is approaching, you might consider some of these questions.  We need you and other researchers to generate answers so that society can continue to use technology in ways that optimize children's learning and development.  

For those who attended, we encourage you to check out our free resources at www.cmch.tv/interact for ways to keep up with news and research on media and child health. 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Brandtzæ, P.B.;  Staksrud; E.,  Hagen; I. &  Wold, T. (2009). Norwegian children's experiences of cyberbullying when using different technological platforms. Journal of Children and Media, 3(4), 349-365.

• The study examines whether children's experience of cyberbullying differs according to technological platforms and socio-demographic variables.

Gorely, T., Biddle, S.,  Marshall, S.J. & Cameron, N. (2009). The prevalence of leisure time sedentary behaviour and physical activity in adolescent boys: An ecological momentary assessment approach. Journal International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 4(4), 289-298.

• This study aims to describe how adolescent boys in the United Kingdom spend their leisure time.

Hennessy, M.;  Bleakley, A.,  Fishbein, M.,  Jordan. A. (2009). Estimating the longitudinal association between adolescent sexual behavior and exposure to sexual media content. Journal of Sex Research, 46( 6), 586-596.

• The purpose of this study is to estimate the association between adolescent sexual behavior and exposure to sexual media content.

King III, C. et al. (2009). Adolescent exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines: An evaluation of advertising placement in relation to underage youth readership. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45 (6), 626-633.

• This study investigates whether alcoholic beverages popular among underage youths are more likely than those less popular among these youths to be advertised in magazines with high underage youth readerships.

Murphy, E. C-S., Carson, L., William Neal, W., Baylis, C., David Donley, D. & Yeater, R. (2009), Effects of an exercise intervention using Dance Dance Revolution on endothelial function and other risk factors in overweight children. Journal International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 4(4), 205-214.

• This study aims to determine whether an exercise intervention using an active video game (Dance Dance Revolution™  is effective in improving endothelial dysfunction and other risk factors in overweight children.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: Upcoming Conferences

Save the dates! To help you keep track of relevant conferences and events, here is a list of upcoming conferences from around the world that may be of interest:

Conferences-Updated

• The Impact of Media and New Technologies on Languages, December 7-9, 2009, Minya, Egypt.

• Is Food Marketing to Children Getting Any Healthier? December 14, 2009, Washington, D.C.

• Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2010 Conference- Panel: Children's Television Channels in a Global Context. March 17-21, 2010, Los Angeles, CA.

• Media Literacy and Its Impact on Substance Abuse, March 25-26, 2010, Harrisburg, PA.

• e-Youth: Balancing Between Opportunities and Risks? May 27-28 , 2010, Belgium.

• Child and Teen Consumption 2010- Interdisciplinarity, Theory and Practice, June 21-23 2010, Sweden.

Audio Conference

• Preventing & Responding to Cyberbullying: What Educators Can & Can't Do" December 1, 2009 - 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies: November 13, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Bell, R.A., Cassady, D., Culp, J., Alcalay, R. (2009). Frequency and types of foods advertised on Saturday morning and weekday afternoon English- and Spanish-Language American television programs. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 41(6), 406-413.

• This study explores food advertised on networks serving children and youth, and to compare ads on English-language networks with ads on Spanish networks.

Duke, J.C. et al. (2009). Increasing youths' exposure to a tobacco prevention media campaign in rural and low-population-density communities. American Journal of Public Health, 99(12), 2210-2216.

• We examined the effectiveness of a program to increase exposure to national "truth" tobacco counter-marketing messages among youths in rural and low-population-density communities.

Lingas, E.O., Dorfman, L. & Bukofzer, E. (2009). Nutrition content of food and beverage products on Web Sites popular with children. American Journal of Public Health, 99(S3), S587-S592.

• This study assessed the nutritional quality of branded food and beverage products advertised on 28 Web sites popular with children.

Mhurchu, C.N., Roberts, V., Maddison, R., Dorey, E.,  Jiang, Y., Jull,  A. & Tin, S. T. (2009). Effect of electronic time monitors on children's television watching: Pilot trial of a home-based intervention. Preventive Medicine, 49(5), 413-417.

• This study evaluated the feasibility (recruitment, retention, and acceptability) and preliminary efficacy of a six-week home-based electronic time monitor intervention on New Zealand children's television watching in 2008.

Suris, J.C., Akré, C., Berchtold, A., Bélanger, R.E., Pierre-André Michaud , P.A. (2009). Chronically connected? Internet use among adolescents with chronic conditions. Journal of Adolescent Health,  Available Online 02 November.

• This study evaluates Internet use among adolescents with chronic conditions.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: New Journal on Emerging Media and Learning

Check out this new journal published by the MIT Press:

The International Journal of Learning and Media focus on emerging forms of media and learning and provides an international forum for scholars, researchers and practitioners to explore the relationship between emerging forms of media and learning, in a variety of forms and settings.

The first issue is now available online for free. Some of the topics in that issue include:

• Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter
• Games and Learning: What's the Connection?
• A Developmental Lens for Designing Virtual Worlds for Children and Youth

 

New Study: Alcohol Advertising on Public Transportation

Since we're located in Boston, we were thrilled to see a study in this month's American Journal of Public Health about alcohol advertising on Boston's public transportation system, the MBTA.  CMCH asked author Michael Siegel, MD MPH to be a guest blogger and tell us more about what he found.  Dr. Siegel is a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and the author of Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change.

Every day, approximately 9,600 Boston schoolchildren take the T (short for the MBTA - Boston’s public transit system) to and from school. What their parents may not realize is that while en route, these kids are bombarded with alcohol advertising, thanks to the state of Massachusetts’ willingness to allow its property to be used for the marketing of alcohol to youths. Our study, which I co-authored with three students at the Boston University School of Public Health, revealed that through the MBTA subway trains, alcohol companies are able to achieve, in a single day, the same amount of advertising exposure among Boston youths as if they took out 5.5 Super Bowl commercials.

We studied the extent of alcohol advertising on the T by surveying four consecutive trains on each of the four subway lines on two separate occasions, one month apart. We found that on average:

• each subway car contains two advertisements
• these ads result in 18,000 alcohol ad exposures among Boston schoolchildren ages 11-18 each day
• on a typical day, alcohol companies are able to achieve the equivalent of exposing 54% of Boston youths to alcohol advertising, all thanks to the state’s willingness to allow its property to be used for alcohol marketing purposes.

These ads are clearly designed to appeal to youths and to entice them to use alcohol before they reach the legal age of alcohol purchase, which is 21. For example, one advertisement we found on the T showed a college student arriving to move in to his dorm. The two essential items depicted for move-in day were his furniture and a larger-than-life bottle of Absolut vodka.

A large body of evidence demonstrates that these alcohol ads not only appeal to kids, but they also influence adolescents’ decisions to start drinking. In other words, by allowing alcohol ads on the MBTA, the state is allowing its property to be used for the recruitment of new youth drinkers.

Massachusetts state representative Martin Walsh has introduced legislation that would eliminate alcohol advertising on state property. The bill (H-1113) is currently being considered by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

In the mean time, the state continues to allow the promotion of underage drinking on state property through the daily bombardment of youths by alcohol advertisements on the MBTA subway system.

 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies: November 6, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Bell, R.A., Cassady, D., Culp, J., & Alcalay, R. (2009). Frequency and types of foods advertised on Saturday morning and weekday afternoon English- and Spanish-language American television programs.
J Nutr Educ Behav, 41(6)-406-13.

• This study investigates  food advertised on networks serving children and youth, and to compare ads on English-language networks with ads on Spanish networks.

Hoffner, C. (2009). Affective responses and exposure to frightening films: The role of empathy and different types of content. Communication Research Reports, 26,(4), 285- 296.

• This study attempts to  measured empathy, affective responses and exposure to frightening films, and perceptions of how aspects of scary content affect enjoyment in young adults.

Lingas, E.O., Dorfman, L.,& Bukofzer. E. (2009) Nutrition content of food and beverage products on web sites popular with children. Am J Public Health, 99(S3), S587-S59.

• The authors assessed the nutritional quality of branded food and beverage products advertised on 28 Web sites popular with children.

Nyborn, J.A., Wukitsch, K., Nhean, S., &  Siegel, M. (2009). Alcohol advertising on Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit System: An assessment of youths' and adults' exposure. Am J Public Health, 99(S3), 644-S648.

• We investigated the frequency with which alcohol advertisements appeared on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit lines in Boston, MA, and we calculated adult and youths' exposure to the ads.

Richmond, T.K., Walls, C.E., Gooding, H.C., Field, A.E. (2009).Television viewing is not predictive of BMI in Black and Hispanic young adult females. Obesity, Available Online Oct 29.

• This study examined whether the cross-sectional association between TV viewing and BMI varied by racial/ethnic subgroups among young women in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

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Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: Open Access Journals on Children, Media, and Health

The Directory of Open Access Journals is a portal that provides access to free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals in several languages and subject areas. Currently, there are 4418 journals in the directory.

Here are selected journals which explore issues related to children, media, and health:

• Early Childhood Research & Practice

This journal covers topics related to the development, care, and education of children from birth to approximately age 8.

• Children, Youth, and Environments

This journal provides a forum to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and stimulate discussion in support of inclusive and sustainable environments for children and youth everywhere.

• The Future of Children

The mission of this journal is to translate the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy.

• Televizion

Televizion is a free full-text scholarly e-journal, examining children's issues in television production and consumption. The annual journal is published in English and German by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI).There are seven English issues available for download.

• Cyberpsychology : Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace

This journal is a web-based, peer-reviewed scholarly journal. It is focused on social science research into cyberspace, while bringing psychosocial reflections of the Internet impact onto people and society.

• Nordicom Review

Nordicom Review is a refereed journal which provides a major forum for media and communication researchers in the Nordic countries.

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.