Completed Projects

October 2013

SCREEN TIME AND DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES

This study explored the relationship between early exposure to media (e.g. Television, computers, cell phones) and young children's development. We interviewed 185 families with children ages 1 month to 3 years of age who attend Early Head Start (EHS). We asked families about their children's daily activities, including screen time use. In addition, we reviewed children’s ongoing developmental screenings from the EHS program. Finally, 30 parents were invited to participate in focus groups where they shared information on their families' use of media in the home, their children's daily activities and how their culture and beliefs inform these practices. Children in the sample watched, on average 3 hours of television per day. Factors inversely associated with screen time were parent age, nap length and number of sleep hours at night. Positively associated with screen time was the number of hours the television is on in the household. After controlling for child’s gender, age and parent education, watching more than 2 hours of television was associated with a higher likelihood of language delays. No associations were identified with other developmental domains. We are now following these cohort longitudinally. This project has been completed. We are currently working on manuscripts.

IMMIGRATION, ACCULTURATION AND CHILD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Consistent with the phenomenon identified as the immigrant paradox, there is evidence to suggest that acculturation and length of residence in the United States since immigration are positively associated with increased body size in adolescents and adults. Less is known about this trend in young children, although early evidence suggests support for similar health outcomes in Hispanic toddlers. Little is known about the mechanisms contributing to the increased body size associated with more acculturated immigrants. Qualitative data points to the adoption of unhealthy habits such as an increase in sedentary behavior, decrease in healthy eating and physical activity as a result of immigration and more acculturated practices. This study aims to understand the impact of acculturation and immigration and factors that contribute to childhood obesity, particularly sedentary behavior (screen time) and physical activity.

GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL PILOT STUDY

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to start school with fewer early language and math skills than their peers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. A number of cognitive components play an important role in this gap in school readiness, including various emergent literacy and math skills. The role of the family and home environment is essential in building these skills to shape young children's school readiness, and the active involvement of families is crucial to the success of any intervention for young children. The Getting Ready for School (GRS) program is a parent-focused curriculum designed to help parents equip their children with the skills and enthusiasm necessary for learning when they start school. Parents meet in weekly workshops led by a trained facilitator and implement the nine curricular units at home with their children. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the promise of the GRS intervention in Latino preschool children participating in an urban Head Start program and to explore parents’ responses to the intervention. We hypothesized that participation in the Getting Ready for School curriculum would improve school readiness in literacy and math skills, relative to participation in business-as-usual Head Start. Four Head Start classrooms (two randomly selected “intervention” and two “comparison” classrooms) participated in this study. Preliminary analyses suggest that GRS improves children’s school readiness skills in literacy and math over and above a Head Start-as-usual experience. This project has been completed. We are currently working on the development of the GRS curriculum through an Institute for Education Sciences (IES) grant populations.