The 39,000 member American Academy of Pediatrics says too much TV watching by your children can turn them violent, aggressive or overweight—and possibly all three. In their first statement in six years on kids and TV, the pediatricians last month advised the nation’s parents to reduce their children’s video-viewing by at least half. Data from the A. C. Nielsen Co. reveal that children aged 2 to 5 currently watch about 25 hours of TV a week; those 6 to 11 watch more than 22 hours a week; and those in the 12 to 17 age-bracket watch 23 hours a week. The pediatricians maintain that by the time today’s child reaches age 70, he or she will have spent approximately seven years in front of the tube.

Parade Magazine, May 27, 1990, p. 13