By Lindsey Tanner
Chicago - Preschoolers put "No TV" signs on their television sets and got rewards for not watching in a study that reduced their viewing by almost a quarter.
The attempt to prevent children from becoming couch potatoes involved seven 20-minute weekly sessions at 16 preschools in New York state near Cooperstown.
Children made lists of fun activities besides television, including reading; parents received stickers to reward their children for each TV-free day; and the schools held parties to celebrate surviving without television.
The 43 youngsters, aged two to five, watched a weekly average of about 14 hours of television and videos before the study - at the upper limit set by the American Academy of Paediatrics, which advises no more than two hours daily. By the end of the study, they were watching less than 11 hours a week.
A comparison group of 34 children who did not undergo the sessions increased their TV viewing by more than an hour, to more than 13 hours a week.
The findings were published in February's Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Other research has shown similar programmes work in older children, but this study is significant because it demonstrates success at an early age before the TV habit becomes firmly entrenched, said Dr Barbara Dennison of the Bassett Healthcare Research Institute in Cooperstown, who led researchers.
Too much television can lead to weight gain and obesity. But larger, longer studies are needed to determine whether reducing TV watching can help prevent weight problems, the researchers said. - Sapa-AP