A university of Otago early childhood education lecturer and researcher has backed Australian recommendations to ban children under the age of 2 from watching television.
The recommendation is included in Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital Get Up and Grow guidelines for healthy eating and exercise, which were devised as part of the Australian federal government anti-obesity drive.
The guidelines recommend children aged 2-5 years watch television for no more than an hour a day.
Recent research showed watching television might reduce the amount of time children had for active play, social contact with others and chances for language development.
It might also affect the development of a full range of eye movement, and reduce attention span.
While University of Otago Centre for Research on Children and Families lecturer Michael Gaffney said the recommendations had merit overall, he believed there were pros and cons to banning television for those aged under 2.
There should be limitations on the amount of time children spent in front of a television, but it would be difficult to control the amount of television a child watched in a family situation, he said.
"There is research - whether it's conclusive or not - to show there are links with negative outcomes for children who spend long hours in front of the TV.
"But if you think of family life, it would be difficult to stop a 2-year-old from watching TV when you also have a 4-year-old in the family.
"It's a complicated issue."
Mr Gaffney also believed the recommendations would only work if children were given activities to promote hand-eye co-ordination, language development and social contact when the television was turned off.
The Australian guidelines fly in the face of the viewing habits of young New Zealanders.
Statistics released by Walters and Zwaga from a survey published in 1999 found the majority of children (aged 4-13) watched up to two hours of television a day, he said.
"That's just TV - not counting computers and electronic games."
Mr Gaffney recommended parents kept close tabs on how much TV and what content their children were watching.
He believed there were some good television shows for young people such as The Go Show, which encouraged children to move by using humour, dance and music.
"It gets them to interact in a way that is more than just sitting in front of the TV."
Dunedin Community Childcare Association director Jo Ellis said none of her early child care centres had televisions, but agreed they could be used as an effective tool for early development.
"It's so much about moderation and parental choice.
"We've found good children's television in moderation can actually enhance relationships and learning.
"I think we've got some very good New Zealand-made television for little children.
"But it's all about the environment in which they watch it."
It was important for children to watch television in small amounts with parents.
They certainly should not be used as a baby-sitting tool.
Get up and Grow will be linked to the Australian national curriculum for child care, which is due to be released in July 2010.
