The Viewtrition Report

18 November 2008

Written by child psychologist Dr Tanya Byron, the report looks at the effects of TV viewing on young children, as well as new research commissioned by Freeview on how parents manage their children’s television viewing and what they believe are the effects of watching TV.

Nearly 2,000 parents took part in the research on parents website Mumsnet . Whilst the majority of parents clearly see the benefits that can be gained through responsible TV viewing – 8 out of 10 parents believe television has a positive effect on their child’s development, including helping them to expand their imagination and broaden their vocabulary, the research also highlighted some confusion around the different messages parents have read or heard on the potential impact of TV viewing on their children.

The Viewtrition Philosophy: creating a balanced TV diet for your kids.

In the same way parents value advice and support to enable their children to have healthy, nutritional food, guidance should be available for parents to empower them to create a positive balanced TV diet for their children.

‘A parents Guide to Quality TV for Kids’ does just that. It is packed full of advice and tips from Dr Tanya Byron, TV star Meera Syal and other parents to encourage mums (and dads) to create their own approach to responsible TV viewing.

Freeview+: the essential ingredient.

The research showed that 50% of parents said having a digital TV recorder has revolutionised their child’s viewing in a positive way, and parents recognise that having one, makes it easier to control and plan what their child watches around busy family routines.

Freeview+ gives parents:
• 48 subscription-free TV channels including CBeebies , CBBC and CITV
• The ability to record an entire series of children’s favourite programmes to enjoy them over and over again
• Pause, record and rewind live TV which allows parents to manage and balance what programmes are watched, when and for how long
• Interactive services via the red button to access additional CBeebies games
• A range of boxes to suit different budgets, starting from £79.99.

Win A Freeview+ digital TV recorder!

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