London - Toddlers who spend a lot of time watching television or looking at picture books are less likely to be happy than those who do active tasks such as painting, a study shows.
Such passive activities did not add to their skills or happiness levels, it found.
Television, in particular, had a negative impact on happiness, perhaps because it involved the least interaction, the study by Oxford University and the Open University said.
By contrast, those who took part in active play developed better motor and speech skills and were more content.
Economics experts analysed data on more than 800 children aged two and three, taken from the German Household Survey 2007-10.
Mothers were asked about youngsters’ happiness and the development of their speech, movement and social skills. They were also asked to record what activities their child had taken part in during the previous two weeks.
The study found that spending time on active tasks helped children’s development. For example, painting or arts and crafts led to improved motor skills, while reading, telling stories and singing boosted their speech.
Children who often took part in active pursuits with their parents were also happier.
Passive activities such as looking at picture books with parents or watching television did not contribute to skill development or happiness levels.
Watching too much television actually had a negative effect on a child’s happiness.
Dr Laurence Roope, of the Health Economics Research Centre at Oxford University, said: “More time spent watching television means less time spent doing other things that might bring more active happiness or development.”
Roope said that picture books with no words were a “little bit less interactive and involving” than reading.
He added: “If we were looking at 1-year-olds or six-month-olds, we might find that picture books have an important role, but it may be for that older age group, they’re ready for that extra stimulation that comes from reading with their parents. We haven’t found any negative impact in terms of looking at picture books, but we also don’t find a positive impact in contrast to some other activities.”
He added: “Our results suggest that parents may face difficult trade-offs with regard to time spent actively engaging with their children, versus providing for them materially via the labour market.”
Co-author Paul Anand, professor of economics at the Open University, added: “An economic study of very young children is relatively novel, but if our findings are replicated in other research, they could have significant implications for parenting education. It could, for example, allow us to reassess the role of arts in the development of skills and human potential.”
Their study, titled Happiness and Development in Very Young Children, was presented at the Royal Economic Society’s annual conference in Manchester this week.
Meanwhile, another paper presented to the conference claimed that improvements in basic education had led to higher average incomes around the world.
However, this process had not led to reduced inequality between the highest and lowest earners, according to the Spanish researchers. – Daily Mail