Children Develop Anxiety Disorders: Too Often, Problem Goes Unrecognized

Fear and anxiety — the forces behind untold numbers of sleep-deprived nights and before-school stomachaches — pop up occasionally along the journey through childhood and adolescence.

But for some children, the worry won’t stop. It grows into an anxiety disorder that can wreak havoc on their home, school and social lives.

“Parents hear about autism, and they hear about ADHD a lot more. Anxiety disorders are the things that are often overlooked, and they’re actually incredibly common,” said Amy Przeworski, a psychologist and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

She and psychologist Rebecca Hazen, also an assistant professor at Case Western, will speak to families, caregivers and professionals in Columbus on Oct. 29 during the annual Children’s Mental Health Conference sponsored by Mental Health America of Franklin County. They want to help families learn to distinguish between typical and problem worrying. Researchers say anxiety-spectrum disorders affect about 1 in 8 children at some point in their lives, making them the most-prevalent mental-health disorder in children and teens.

Generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks and phobias can be present in varying degrees of severity.

“Sometimes, people don’t come in for treatment until it’s really causing problems,” Hazen said. “ When anxiety is starting to interfere with daily activities, or cause a lot of daily stress for kids, that’s a red flag that they might need some help.”

Carrie Stephany and her 13-year-old daughter, Mia, say the signs of Mia’s obsessive-compulsive disorder were becoming clear by the time she turned 6. For her birthday party that year, Mia insisted on a menu of plain corn muffins and sugar-free Italian ice. She couldn’t have cake because the thought of eating a sugary treat, even in moderation, worried her sick. “I just thought, ‘ Sugar, bad,’  ” Mia said. “Then I became afraid of the sun. I thought I’d get skin cancer.”

Obsessive worry about germs, headaches and throwing up began to plague Mia, too. She couldn’t wash her hands enough, and her family unwittingly made matters worse by trying to reassure her.

Tending the compulsions and paying them lots of attention usually just makes them grow big — it’s kind of like watering a thirsty plant, Stephany said.

Mia’s psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Child Development Center helped the Westerville family settle on the best treatment. Mia said books, too, have made it easier to see her obsessive-compulsive disorder as a third party she needs to ignore.

One story portrayed OCD as “OC flea,” a pesky creature that overtook animals and made them think they had to do certain things.

“You have to talk back to OCD,” Mia said. “But your family can’t do it for you. They can be your cheerleader on the sidelines.”

Mia has great grades, is active in extracurricular activities and has helped other children who struggle with anxiety disorders.

Przeworski said the exact cause of an anxiety disorder might not be known, but both genetic predisposition and experiences can be factors.

“These days, there’s so much pressure on kids to succeed,” Przeworski said. “That’s only going to lead to an increase in anxiety diagnoses.”

Read More: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/10/21/children-develop-anxiety-disorders.html

Organic Food Not Any Better Than Conventional for Kids, Pediatricians Say

If you’re buying organic foods for your kids because you think they’re more nutritious, you might want to think again. The nation’s pediatricians have weighed in on the issue for the first time, and they say that when it comes to nutritional value, organics are virtually indistinguishable from conventionally produced foods.

“Pretty much every study shows no nutritional difference,” said Dr. Janet Silverstein, a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Florida. She’s a co-author of the report published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Silverstein and her colleagues reviewed the available studies on organic and conventionally produced foods, including produce, dairy products and meat. They considered research about issues including nutrition, hormones, antibiotics and synthetic chemical exposure, plus factors such as environmental impact and price.

Overall, the docs came to a conclusion that may surprise some parents who believe organic is best for their kids

“In the long term, there is currently no direct evidence that consuming an organic diet leads to improved health or lower risk of disease,” AAP officials said in a statement.

No large studies been conducted that address the differences, they said. That largely echoes the findings of a Stanford University review last month that analyzed 237 studies and concluded that organic foods were no more nutritious than conventional -- and ignited huge debates online and on talk shows.

When it comes to the pesky issue of pesticides, hormones and other contaminants, the pediatricians came to a similar conclusion.

No one knows yet whether those substances make foods from conventional sources less safe for growing kids, Silverstein said.

While there’s no question that conventionally grown foods have more pesticides than organic foods, the effect isn’t certain.

“They are at low levels -- certainly lower than the federal government regulatory cutoffs and lower than is thought to be dangerous for adults,” Silverstein said. “However, we don’t know the effect of these low levels on children during the vulnerable period of time when brain growth is occurring: in utero and through the first few years of life.”

Studies evaluating the long-term effects of pesticides on child development need to be conducted, she said.

“Until we know the answer to that question, we can’t really give people good advice other than to let them know what is known and what still needs to be studied,” she added.

One clear difference between organics and conventionally produced food is price. Organics are typically more expensive, in some cases priced 50 percent higher than the same conventionally grown foods.

Parents should recognize the importance of providing kids with lots of fruits and vegetables whether it comes from organic or conventional farms.

“If a parent has limited resources, the most important thing is to give the child a healthy diet and not to give fewer fruits and vegetables because they’re spending more on organic foods,” Silverstein said.

If cost is a factor, families can be selective in choosing organic foods, Silverstein said. Some conventionally grown fruits and vegetables tend to have lower pesticide residues. The AAP cites organic shopper's guides like those provided by Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group as references for consumers.

If moms interviewed by NBC News are typical, the new report isn’t likely to dissuade any parents from buying organic.

For Diana Lovett, 34, of Larchmont, N.Y., the most important issue was avoiding pesticides in the foods she gives her son, Noam, 4 ½ months.

“We started him on organic baby food and we’re really happy with it. I just wanted something healthy for my son and didn’t like the idea of pesticides in baby food,” she said.

Lovett says she’d make her own baby food if she couldn’t find an organic product at the supermarket. “If I could I would grow my own fruits and veggies,” Lovett said. “Organic just feels one step closer to that.”

Gigi Lee Chang, 45, of New York, has been feeding her son, Cato, mostly organic foods since he was a baby. Now that he’s 8, she’s planning on packing organic fruits and vegetables to supplement school lunches.

“I don’t think from a mom’s perspective it was ever about the nutrition,” said Chang, chief executive of Healthy Child, Healthy World, an advocacy group that works to help parents protect children from harmful chemicals.

As far as Chang is concerned, the science just hasn’t had a chance to catch up on this issue. Chang points to the situation with bisphenol A, the estrogen-mimicking chemical known as BPA. Several years ago there wasn’t enough evidence on the impact of BPA, she said. And now it’s been banned from baby bottles and sippy cups.

That makes sense to Rachel Blumenthal, 32, of New York. She chooses organic foods for 18-month-old Griffin’s meals because she’s worried about chemicals in conventional foods.

“It’s really more for long-term health concerns,” she said. “I just don’t want to take the chance. Years and years of cumulative exposure to pesticides can’t be good for anybody. My husband and I try to eat organic, too.”

Blumenthal figures it’s just a matter of time before scientists prove what she suspects.

“Just 20 or 30 years ago everyone was sunbathing,” she said. “Now we know it causes cancer. I anticipate that happening with all these pesticides.”

Read More: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14563149-organic-food-no-better-than-conventional-for-kids-pediatricians-say?lite

What is your stand in the organic food world? Do you still prefer to buy it for your family? Why or why not?

Fun Friday: Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Spiderweb Frosting

Pumpkin Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat OR all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin and egg until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Slowly add the flour to the pumpkin mixture and mix until everything is combined.
4. Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by the tablespoonful. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly browned and the dough is cooked through. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

Caramel Frosting
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt

In a large saucepan, bring the sugar and cream to a boil. Boil for exactly one minute. Add the baking soda and boil for one minute more. Remove from the heat and drop tablespoons of butter all over the mixture. Do not stir. Allow to cool for thirty minutes on the stove. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool for another thirty minutes. Stir the butter into the caramel and scrape caramel into a mixing bowl. Beat in 1 to 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, depending on the consistency you like. Spread onto cooled cookies. Make spiderweb design using the recipe below for chocolate ganache or purchase a tube of black frosting at the grocery store.

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into very small chunks

Bring the heavy cream to a boil over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat as soon as the cream begins to boil. Stir in the chocolate and continue stirring until it has melted. Cool for five minutes before pouring into a piping bag fitted with a number 5 tip. Pipe three small circles onto each cookie (like a target) and then drag a toothpick through the circles to make a spiderweb.

Karly Campbell, author of the popular baking blog Buns In My Oven, began blogging in 2008. For more of her recipes, musings, and food photos, visit her at BunsInMyOven.com.

Have a favorite halloween recipe you want to share? We would love to hear about it!

Books Can Change How Your Child's Brain Develops

Books and educational toys can make a child smarter, but they also influence how the brain grows, according to new research presented here on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. The findings point to a “sensitive period” early in life during which the developing brain is strongly influenced by environmental factors.

Studies comparing identical and nonidentical twins show that genes play an important role in the development of the cerebral cortex, the thin, folded structure that supports higher mental functions. But less is known about how early life experiences influence how the cortex grows.

To investigate, neuroscientist Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania and her colleagues recruited 64 children from a low-income background and followed them from birth through to late adolescence. They visited the children’s homes at 4 and 8 years of age to evaluate their environment, noting factors such as the number of books and educational toys in their houses, and how much warmth and support they received from their parents.

More than 10 years after the second home visit, the researchers used MRI to obtain detailed images of the participants’ brains. They found that the level of mental stimulation a child receives in the home at age 4 predicted the thickness of two regions of the cortex in late adolescence, such that more stimulation was associated with a thinner cortex. One region, the lateral inferior temporal gyrus, is involved in complex visual skills such as word recognition.

Home environment at age 8 had a smaller impact on development of these brain regions, whereas other factors, such as the mother’s intelligence and the degree and quality of her care, had no such effect.

Previous work has shown that adverse experiences, such as childhood neglect, abuse, and poverty, can stunt the growth of the brain. The new findings highlight the sensitivity of the growing brain to environmental factors, Farah says, and provide strong evidence that subtle variations in early life experience can affect the brain throughout life.

As the brain develops, it produces more synapses, or neuronal connections, than are needed, she explains. Underused connections are later eliminated, and this elimination process, called synaptic pruning, is highly dependent upon experience. The findings suggest that mental stimulation in early life increases the extent to which synaptic pruning occurs in the lateral temporal lobe. Synaptic pruning reduces the volume of tissue in the cortex. This makes the cortex thinner, but it also makes information processing more efficient.

“This is a first look at how nurture influences brain structure later in life,” Farah reported at the meeting. “As with all observational studies, we can’t really speak about causality, but it seems likely that cognitive stimulation experienced early in life led to changes in cortical thickness.”

She adds, however, that the research is still in its infancy, and that more work is needed to gain a better understanding of exactly how early life experiences impact brain structure and function.

The findings add to the growing body of evidence that early life is a period of “extreme vulnerability,” says psychiatrist Jay Giedd, head of the brain imaging unit in the Child Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. But early life, he says, also offers a window of opportunity during which the effects of adversity can be offset. Parents can help young children develop their cognitive skills by providing a stimulating environment.

Read More: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/books-growing-brain/

What is ABA?

What is Applied Behavior Analysis?

Behavior analysis focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place. Positive reinforcement is one such principle. When a behavior is followed by some sort of reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. Through decades of research, the field of behavior analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviors and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the use of these techniques and principles to bring about meaningful and positive change in behavior.

As mentioned, behavior analysts began working with young children with autism and related disorders in the 1960s. Early techniques often involved adults directing most of the instruction. Some allowed the child to take the lead. Since that time, a wide variety of ABA techniques have been developed for building useful skills in learners with autism – from toddlers through adulthood.

These techniques can be used in structured situations such as a classroom lesson as well as in "everyday" situations such as family dinnertime or the neighborhood playground. Some ABA therapy sessions involve one-on-one interaction between the behavior analyst and the participant. Group instruction can likewise prove useful.

How Does ABA Benefit Those with Autism?

Today, ABA is widely recognized as a safe and effective treatment for autism. It has been endorsed by a number of state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Surgeon General and the New York State Department of Health. Over the last decade, the nation has seen a particularly dramatic increase in the use of ABA to help persons with autism live happy and productive lives. In particular, ABA principles and techniques can foster basic skills such as looking, listening and imitating, as well as complex skills such as reading, conversing and understanding another person’s perspective.

More information about behavior analysis and ABA is available at the websites of theAssociation of Professional Behavior Analysts, the Association for Behavior Analysis International and the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

What Does Research Tell Us About ABA and Autism?



A number of completed studies have demonstrated that ABA techniques can produce improvements in communication, social relationships, play, self care, school and employment. These studies involved age groups ranging from preschoolers to adults. Results for all age groups showed that ABA increased participation in family and community activities.

A number of peer-reviewed studies have examined the potential benefits of combining multiple ABA techniques into comprehensive, individualized and intensive early intervention programs for children with autism. "Comprehensive" refers to interventions that address a full range of life skills, from communication and sociability to self-care and readiness for school. "Early intervention" refers to programs designed to begin before age 4. "Intensive" refers to programs that total 25 to 40 hours per week for 1 to 3 years.

These programs allow children to learn and practice skills in both structured and unstructured situations. The “intensity” of these programs may be particularly important to replicate the thousands of interactions that typical toddlers experience each day while interacting with their parents and peers.

Such studies have demonstrated that many children with autism experience significant improvements in learning, reasoning, communication and adaptability when they participate in high-quality ABA programs. Some preschoolers who participate in early intensive ABA for two or more years acquire sufficient skills to participate in regular classrooms with little or no additional support. Other children learn many important skills, but still need additional educational support to succeed in a classroom.

Across studies, a small percentage of children show relatively little improvement. More research is needed to determine why some children with autism respond more favorably to early intensive ABA than others do. Currently, it remains difficult to predict the extent to which a particular child will benefit.

In some studies, researchers compared intensive ABA with less intensive ABA and/or other early intervention or special education programs for children with autism. Generally, they found that children who receive intensive ABA treatment make larger improvements in more skill areas than do children who participate in other interventions. In addition, the parents of the children who receive intensive ABA report greater reductions in daily stress than do parents whose children receive other treatments.
ABA and Adults with Autism

A number of recent studies confirm that ABA techniques are effective for building important life skills in teens and adults with autism. Many comprehensive autism support programs for adults employ and combine ABA techniques to help individuals transition successfully into independent living and employment. However, the benefits of intensive ABA programs remain far less studied in teens and adults than they have been with young children. This is a research area of particular interest to Autism Speaks and its supporters.

What Does ABA Intervention Involve?

Effective ABA intervention for autism is not a "one size fits all" approach and should never be viewed as a "canned" set of programs or drills. On the contrary, a skilled therapist customizes the intervention to each learner's skills, needs, interests, preferences and family situation. For these reasons, an ABA program for one learner will look different than a program for another learner.

ABA Techniques and Philosophy

* The instructor uses a variety of behavior analytic procedures, some of which are directed by the instructor and others initiated by the learner.
* Parents and/or other family members and caregivers receive training so they can support learning and skill practice throughout the day.
* The learner’s day is structured to provide many opportunities – both planned and naturally occurring - to acquire and practice skills in both structured and unstructured situations.
* The learner receives an abundance of positive reinforcement for demonstrating useful skills and socially appropriate behaviors. The emphasis is on positive social interactions and enjoyable learning.
* The learner receives no reinforcement for behaviors that pose harm or prevent learning.
What Kind of Progress Can Be Expected with ABA?

Competently delivered ABA intervention can help learners with autism make meaningful changes in many areas. However, changes do not typically occur quickly. Rather, most learners require intensive and ongoing instruction that builds on their step-by-step progress. Moreover, the rate of progress – like the goals of intervention – varies considerably from person to person depending on age, level of functioning, family goals and other factors.

Some learners do acquire skills quickly. But typically, this rapid progress happens in just one or two particular skill areas such as reading, while much more instruction and practice is needed to master another skill area such as interacting with peers.

Read more: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

Facts About Bullying

What is bullying?

Bullying is behavior that hurts or harms another person physically or emotionally. Bullying can be very overt, such as fighting, hitting or name calling, or it can be covert, such as gossiping or leaving someone out on purpose. It is intentional, meaning the act is done willfully, knowingly and with deliberation. The targets have difficulty stopping the behavior directed at them and struggle to defend themselves.

What are the different types of bullying?

Verbal bullying is name-calling, making offensive remarks, or joking about a person's religion, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or the way they look.

Physical bullying includes any physical contact that would hurt or injure a person like hitting, kicking, punching, etc.

Relational bullying is excluding someone from a game or group on purpose. It also includes spreading rumors, and/or making fun of someone by pointing out their differences.

Intimidation is threatening someone else and frightening that person enough to make him or her do what the bully wants.

Cyber bullying is done by sending negative, embarrassing, belittling or threatening messages, pictures, or information using computers (email instant messages, and social networking sites), or cell phones (text messaging and voicemail).

What are some statistics that should everyone know about bullying?

71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
90 percent of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying.
Every day, 160,000 students skip school because they are afraid they will be bullied.
The most common reason cited for being harassed is a student's appearance or body size. Two out of five teens feel that they are bullied because of the way that they look.
57 percent of students who experience harassment in school never report the incident to the school. Ten percent of those who do not report stay quiet because they do not believe that teachers or staff can do anything. As a result, more than a quarter of students feel that school is an unsafe place to be.
Nine out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
41 percent of principals say they have programs designed to create a safe environment for LGBT students, but only 1/3 of principals say that LGBT students would feel safe at their school.
One in four teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4 percent of the time.
A victim of bullying is twice as likely to take his or her own life compared to someone who is not a victim.
Only one in 10 victims of cyberbullying tell a parent. Fewer than one in five cyberbullying incidents are reported to the police

Check out these websites for more facts and information about bullying and bullying prevention.
Random Facts
DoSomething.org
Make Beats Not Beat Downs
StopBullying.gov
Pacer.org
Stomp Out Bullying

Bulling is 100% UNACCEPTABLE and 100% preventable. 

Read More: http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/100_percent_preventable/get-the-facts-about-bullying/article_927bef0c-179b-11e2-b1d8-0019bb30f31a.html

In honor of national bully prevention month what are YOU doing to help prevent and stop bullying?

Sesame Street and Child Develpment

Television has a bad side. According to a report from the University of Michigan, the average American child has seen sixteen thousand murders on TV by age 18. Indeed, programs explicitly designed for kids often contain more violence than adult programming, and that violence is often paired with humor. Every single animated feature film produced by US production houses between 1937 and 1999 contained violence, and the amount of violence increased throughout that time period. Researchers from the University of Michigan found that just being awake and in the room with a TV on more than two hours a day – even if the kids aren’t explicitly paying attention to the TV – was a risk factor for being overweight at ages three and four-and-a-half. This may be related to the fact that two thirds of the twenty thousand television commercials the average child sees each year are for food.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, in their wisdom, recommend that children under age two have zero hours of screen time. (Meanwhile, a bevy of DVDs are marketed to parents of children age zero to 2, promising to “teach your child about language and logic, patterns and sequencing, analyzing details and more.”)

Despite the warning, however, many parents of infants age 0 to 2 do allow their children some screen time. In 2007, Frederick J. Zimmerman of the University of Washington (now at UCLA) wondered what the effects of TV watching were on those infants. He collected data from 1008 parents about the infants’ TV habits, as well as the amount of time they spent doing things like reading (with parents), playing, and so on. He also administered, for each child, a survey called the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI). The CDI is a standard tool used by developmental psychologists to assess language development in infants and children. He and his team then looked to see if there were statistical relationships between time spent watching TV (and the other activities) and language abilities, as measured by the CDI. Here’s the catch: they only included infants whose TV watching consistedentirely of infant-directed programming. That is, TV programs especially designed for infants age 0 to 2. If the infants were shown other sorts of TV programs, they were not included in the study.

They found that reading at least once a day was associated with a seven point increase on the CDI for 8 to 16 month olds, and nearly twelve points for 17 to 24 month olds, compared with those who read with their parents less frequently. If parents told stories to their children at least once per day, as opposed to less frequently, their kids’ scores on the CDI were nearly six and a half points higher for younger infants, and more than seven points higher for older infants. That kids who read more often or were told stories more often scored better on a test of language development is probably not surprising. (Interestingly, there was no statistical correlation between music listening and language development).

Here’s the kicker: for each hour, on average, that infants between 8 and 16 months old watched infant-directed television (including DVD versions of those programs) per day, they could expect a seventeen point reduction in their scores on the CDI. Let me say that again: each hour per day, on average, that these kids watched TV was associated with a seventeen point decrease on a measure of language acquisition.

You might argue that this correlation could exist simply because parents who show these programs to their kids may also be somehow less motivated to encourage language development in their kids more generally. Perhaps these parents were just less skilled at parenting overall. The researchers attempted to statistically control for this, by factoring in data related to parent-child interaction. As usual, correlations should be taken with a grain of salt, and this is but one study from a very large literature. Still, this study, combined with others, has led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that children between the ages of 0 and 2 years old watch no television at all.

But television isn’t all bad. Shows like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood stand out as beacons of hope, sparkling diamonds among a sea of coals. For children between the ages of two and five years, at least.

In 2001, Daniel R. Anderson published the results of a massive longitudinal study called “The Recontact Study” as a Monograph of the Society of Research in Child Development. First, they assessed television habits among preschoolers (age 2-5). Then they recontacted 570 of the children a decade later, when they were in high school. They assessed their current (adolescent) media use, and also their grades in English, science, and math, their leisure reading habits, creativity, aggression, participation in extracurricular activities, use of alcohol and cigarettes, and self-image.

They found, among other things, that children age 3 to 5 who watched Sesame Streethad larger vocabularies in high school than those who watched other television programming, or even no television at all. The effect could not be explained by gender, family size, or parents’ education. Preschoolers from lower income neighborhoods, in particular, who watched Sesame Street were more prepared for school than their peers who did not watch Sesame Street. Kids who watched Sesame Street had higher grades in science and English, had higher total GPA, read more books, placed more value on achievement, and were rated as more creative, compared with their peers. Boys who watched Sesame Street in preschool were rated as less aggressive in high school; girls were more likely to participate in extracurricular art classes.

Similar effects were seen for those who watched Mister Rogers as kids, but not for those who watched other non-educational television programs in preschool.

Importantly, it was the educational content of the television that kids watched in preschool that predicted their future success as high schoolers more than the overall amount of television they watched. “The medium of television is not homogeneous or monolithic, and content viewed is more important than raw amount,” Anderson says. “The medium is not the message: The message is.”

Reed Larson put it plainly in a commentary on Anderson’s monograph: “Educational television works: It has sustained, long-term, positive relationships to development and behavior.”

Read More: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2012/10/15/baby-tv-sesame-street-and-child-development/