Ethnopediatrics

I've had a bit of a revelation: discovery of a new field of study called "ethnopediatrics". Time Magazine recently published (January 16, 2006) an article entitled "Want a brainier baby?" by Pamela Paul, which quotes anthropologist Meredith Small. Her comment and her occupation, of course, peaked my interest. So, I did a little googling, and it turns out that Small is one of the pioneers in this new field, which looks at how parenting styles or techniques vary across cultures.

She has written a few books: "Our babies, Ourselves: how biology and culture shape the way we parent" and "Kids: how biology and culture shape the way we raise young children." I haven't read either book yet, but certainly look forward to. Anyway, it thrilled me to find out about another person out there studying cross-cultural practice, and asking questions about how our own practices may or may not be better, worse, indifferent, etc. I'll try to add a few links related to Small's work in the sidebar.

Incidentally, the Time article was reporting more on the increasing selection of "educational" videos, books and toys for very young children (e.g. like Baby Einstein or Brainy Baby, etc.). This was interesting too, as I've received a couple of these kinds of books and videos as gifts for our baby. To date I haven't bothered with the videos (which I'm sure glad about now...read on); as for the books there're okay, but more impressive to adults than children (i.e. "wow - there's pictures by Van Gogh and Degas in here...guess that can't be a bad thing"). My son isn't old enough yet to really enjoy them; right now he's more interested in pots'n'pans, water in the sink and other 'mundane' everyday objects. Fine with us!

Anyway, the article pointed out that many of these products don't have solid science or research behind them to demonstrate a tangible benefit. Quite the opposite may be true, in fact. (Gee, tossing that Tellytubbie video could actually be a heroic move. Hmm...) The article cites videos and television as being particularly detrimental, in that they can negatively affect a child's brain development. Here's a quote from another academic guy, Dimitri Christakis:

"'Parents say, "My child can't stop looking at [a children's video]! She loves it!"...true, she can't stop looking at it, but that doesn't mean she loves it.' Not only might Baby not be enjoying the program, but [research suggests] 'there's reason to believe these products have deleterious effets on the developing mind'...the American Academy of Pediartrics recommends no TV viewing of any kind before age 2".

Meredith Small in her turn comments that "there's a growing thought that maybe Americans are overstimulating their babies, or stimulating them in the wrong ways."

View the article in Time by clicking the link in the sidebar. Note: the Time website requires that you login or get a subscription to read the whole article online.
To learn a bit more about Meredith Small, I've included a link to her bio page on Cornell University's website (see sidebar).