(28 November 2005 1:00 pm)

MUMBAI: A study conducted by the University of Washington researchers has revealed that, children under the age of three who were allowed to watch more than two hours of TV a day have below-average reading abilities by age six.

According to a 10-year study published in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, children who averaged more than two hours of television a day as toddlers scored 10 per cent lower in reading comprehension and short-term memory tests.

Another surprising conclusion the study has arrived was about the lack of effectiveness of some of television's educational shows. The study's co-author Frederick Zimmerman has been quoted in media reports as saying, "Some television shows for children, which claim to be educational actually had no beneficial effect on toddlers."