Too Much TV Can Develop Into Bad Habits
Peggy R. Anderson
Extension Agent
July 14, 2010
Too Much TV Can Develop Into Bad Habits
Summertime is in the air and children may be spending more time at home. Make sure your children are not passing all their time in front of the TV and missing out on more stimulating activities.
According to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, each additional hour of TV toddlers watch per week translates into poorer classroom behavior, lower math scores, less physical activity and more snacking at age 10.
“Each additional hour a toddler spends in front of a television, they could be doing something more active and educational,” said Debbie Richardson, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension parenting assistant specialist. “Children could be participating in physical activity, playing games, reading or playing with things that will improve their motor skills.”
Watching TV also appears to have negative effects on physical health. Richardson said each additional weekly hour watched resulted in a decline in overall physical activity, an increase in soft drink and snack food consumption and an increase in body mass index.
“The summer months are a good time to encourage your children to participate in outdoor activities,” she said. “Challenge children to get out and do some sort of physical activity every day.”
The study also shows each additional hour spent in front of the TV per week at age 2 ½ corresponded to a 7 percent decrease in classroom engagement, a 6 percent decrease in overall math achievement and a 10 percent increase in being bullied by peers when children were in the 4th grade.
On the other hand, viewing educational programs as preschoolers has been associated with higher grades, reading more books, greater creativity and less aggression.
Parents are an important influence on their children’s media habits. Richardson suggests the following tips to help parents tame the tube:
- Avoid using the television as a babysitter.
- Move the television so it is not the center of the family room or in a child’s bedroom.
- Schedule times for viewing and turn off the TV otherwise.
- Limit children’s viewing to one to two hours per day.
- Select programs appropriate for the child’s developmental level.
- Offer other options – play games, read, be creative and active.
- Know what the children are watching.
Don’t Let Canning Become a Recipe for Disaster
Your garden is producing a bumper crop this year, so you´d like to pickle or can some of that bounty. Don´t let your experience become a recipe for disaster.
The first step is to use a recipe the U.S. Department of Agriculture has tested and approved. A lot of recipes are available on the Web, in old cookbooks and from friends and family. The problem is that most of those recipes haven´t been tested for safety.
Home-canning vegetables improperly can lead to the growth of bacteria and their toxins. For example, Clostridium botulinum produces a toxin. If a food containing the toxin is consumed, a potentially deadly form of foodborne illness can result.
Listeria is a type of bacteria that can be found in raw vegetables, milk and meat, soft-ripened cheese, poultry and fermented raw-meat sausage. It grows at refrigerator temperatures and can survive in acidic conditions. That means it could survive and grow in unprocessed refrigerator pickles without the proper level of vinegar. Heat kills Listeria, so proper canning will inactivate this type of bacteria.
Most bacteria are hard to remove from food surfaces, according to experts at the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They say that washing fresh food reduces bacteria levels only slightly, but that peeling root crops, underground stem crops and tomatoes cuts bacteria numbers significantly. Blanching vegetables also helps, but the best bacteria control is using proper canning methods, they say.
Following canning or pickling recipes exactly also is vital. Canning is a science, while cooking is an art. You don´t have a lot of room for creativity when canning. Altering ingredients and proportions can result in a deadly mixture.
Here is some other advice from the experts:
· Select fresh, firm fruit or vegetables that are free of damage.
· Measure or weigh ingredients carefully.
· Use canning or pickling salt because other salt may make the pickling brine cloudy.
· Use distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar with 5 percent (50 grain) acidity.
· Process canned products in a pressure canner or boiling-water canner, depending on the acidity of the food.
Foods with enough acid can block bacteria´s growth and destroy them more rapidly when heated.
· Use standard canning jars and self-sealing lids.
· Store home-canned products in a cool, dark place.
· For best quality, use the products within a year.
For more information on safe home canning, check out the North Dakota State University Extension Service website at www.ag.ndsu.edu/ndsuag/food.
Schedule
Wednesday, July 14 – Burke County
Thursday, July 15 – Day Off
Friday, July 16 – Burke County
Monday, July 19 – Day Off
Tuesday, July 20 – Day Off
