It can be hard to encourage families of preschoolers to turn off the TV,but there are plenty of highquality shows that promote learning and positive relationships rather than violence,researchers noted. "Although clearly kids watch too much,what's more worrying is that they watch poor quality shows," said Dr Christakis,the lead researcher on the new study from the University of Washington in Seattle.His former survey of parents of threeto fiveyearold children showed the kids often watched violent cartoons and movies that are "totally inappropriate". For their study,he and his colleagues randomly divide 565 preschoolers into two groups.In one group,parents recorded notes about kids' normal TV viewing,without receiving any guidelines to reduce or change those habits.In the other group,researchers made visits and calls and sent monthly newsletters encouraging parents to replace violent TV with educational programming.After six and 12 months,parents reported their kid's angry,aggressive or anxious behaviors on a questionnaire.At both time points,children in the TV intervention   program had slightly fewer problems than those in the comparison group.Boys in lowincome families seemed to benefit most from the change in programming,the researchers found. "The point is,this is something that is as effective as other things we do to try to guide behavior in children,and it's fairly simple," Christakis said. Another study published in Pediatrics found the more TV kids and teens watched,the more likely they were to have a crime or other problems in society.Children may imitate violence they see--or more time in front of the TV could simply mean less communication with peers and families,and worse performance in school. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids watch no more than one to two hours of highquality programming each day.Researchers agreed parents should be mindful of what exactly their young kids are watching on TV as well."It's  not just about turning the TV off,it's about changing the channel," Christakis said. What is the positive effect of highquality TV shows on kids?
Good learning results and relationships. Being affected by violence. Spending less time on TV programming. Encouraging them to turn on the TV.