Jan 2009
“Lots of TV and Web Harms Kids’ Health”
An analysis of 173 studies on media and its effects on children found a strong correlation between amount of media use and childhood obesity, tobacco use, and earlier sexual activity. Media use was also associated with drug and alcohol use and poorer school performance. Interestingly, the amount of media consumed was more important than the content. Read more about the findings at Reuters.
|
Apr 2008
Unplug and Play
This new brochure from the Missoula City-County Health Department gives ideas for getting children away from screens and playing actively.
|
Dec 2007
Shrek’s Ties to Junk Food
A review by CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) found sixteen separate food promotions for upcoming movie Shrek the Third featuring more than seventy different products, including Kellogg's Marshmallow Froot Loops cereal, Keebler E.L. FudgeDouble Stuffed cookies, "ogre-sized" Peanut Butter M&M's, Cheetos, and Kellogg's Frosted S'Mores Pop Tarts. CCFC's Dr. Susan Linn was featured on the CBS Evening News last night.
|
Dec 2008
PBS Hosts Literacy Shows
PBS has a whole line-up of literacy shows to teach low-income children various pre-reading skills, such as phonological awareness. However, the kids don’t find the shows as much fun to watch as, for example, Blue’s Clues and Curious George. “Super WHY” is the only literacy show rated in the top ten.
|
Dec 2008
Marketing Food to Children--Federal Trade Commission
A new report from the Federal Trade Commission outlines the ways in which the food industry markets food to children and how self-regulation by the industry is progressing.
|
Dec 2008
Marketing Food to Children--Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has a different “take” on how self-regulation by the food industry is working.
|
Aug 2008
Infant Television Time Limits Verbal Interaction with Mothers
A new study published in the “Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine” found that babies in low socio-economic households who watch television or videos have “limited verbal interactions with their mothers.” Since such interactions are extremely important for early childhood development, the study supports the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation that children ages two and under should not be exposed to television at all.
|
Aug 2008
Even Background TV Can Impact Kids’ Attention
In this small-scale study, researchers found that when the television is on in the background, very young children watch only short snippets of it. However, their playtime with any particular toy is cut in half and the intensity of play decreases.
|
Aug 2008
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood
This new documentary, being released this fall by the Media Education Foundation, examines how marketing has made our children and youth into an extremely powerful consumer group and how that has affected kids. View a trailer of the film on the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s YouTube page.
|
Jan 2009
Baby Scam: Marketing to Babies and Toddlers II
The Campaign for a Commercial -Free Childhood has a series of fact sheets on a variety of topics, including the Commercialization of Toys and Play, Sexualizing Childhood, Materialism and Family Stress, Marketing Media Violence, Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity, and several more.
|
Jan 2009
Baby Scam: Marketing to Babies and Toddlers I
This printable fact sheet from The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has some shocking statistics; for example, 40% of infants are regularly watching screen media by the age of three months, and 19% of babies one year old and younger have televisions in their bedrooms.
|
About Us 