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Daytime television viewing by hospitalized children
Pediatrics
|November 1, 1981
Summary
Hospitalized children watch significantly more television than their non-hospitalized peers, often viewing adult-oriented programs. This indiscriminate and excessive hospital television viewing highlights a need for better programming options.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Media Studies
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Hospitalized children may face prolonged periods of inactivity.
- Exposure to media, including television, is a common pastime for children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the extent and nature of daytime television viewing among hospitalized pediatric patients.
- To compare viewing habits of hospitalized children with non-hospitalized children.
Main Methods:
- A survey was conducted at the Winnipeg Children's Centre.
- Television viewing patterns were recorded for 845 pediatric patients.
- Observations were made at half-hour intervals between 9 am and 5 pm.
Main Results:
- The percentage of children viewing television daily ranged from 21% to 75%.
- Mean daily weekday viewing time was 3.9 hours per eight-hour survey day.
- Hospitalized children exhibited substantially higher daytime viewing than non-hospitalized children, often watching adult-oriented programming.
Conclusions:
- Hospital television viewing by pediatric patients is characterized as indiscriminate and excessive.
- There is a need to raise staff awareness regarding the influence of television on hospitalized children.
- Consideration should be given to providing commercial-free, alternative programming for pediatric patients.