Parents who think they are helping their infant children get a head start in life by exposing them to educational television programs and DVDs may actually be doing them more harm than good, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

The assumption is that children under two who watch shows such as Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby – or tune into BabyFirstTV, which is seen in 35 countries – will develop higher IQs and learn how to talk at an earlier age.

But after reviewing 78 scientific studies published in the past 25 years, as well as conducting his own research, Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, concluded that just the opposite is true.

“Infant TV viewing is associated with delayed language, with shortened attention spans and with delayed cognitive development,” Christakis told the Citizen. “The scientific evidence of benefit is just not there, and the best available evidence suggests harm.”

One study found that for each hour these children watched “baby DVDs,” they knew on average six to eight fewer words. Christakis’s own research revealed a “modest association” between watching TV before age three and attention problems at age seven.

Another study found they were more likely to become hyperactive as they got older.

In a paper published in the medical journal, Acta Pediatrica, Christakis noted that even watching Sesame Street has been shown to cause delayed language development in children under three.

Yet Christakis does not blame parents who have found the idyllic claims of those in the “baby TV” industry too hard to resist.