Buggies and child speech delay examined on TV
New research into the effect of forward-facing buggies is featured in a TV news show 'Lost for Words' looking at why a growing number of children starting primary school have delayed speech and language.
Buggy research features in ITV show
The 'Tonight with Trevor McDonald' programme next Monday will focus on the lack of communication between parents and their children as a possible underlying cause for speech problems. The programme tracks two families who have pre-school children with delayed speech.
Among the research it considers is a study led by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, developmental psychologist at the University of Dundee, on behalf of the National Literacy Trust, into how babies and young children are affected by the way their baby buggy faces. The study found that 65 per cent of buggies are designed to face away from the person pushing them.
The programme's producer, Angie Mason, said, 'The footage shows that children learning to talk at one and two years of age need the carer to interact and give them words.'
The programme also considers research into young children's language and vocabulary development by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, along with information from the Primary Review and Ofsted.
Delayed speech is blamed variously on modern lifestyles, parents' heavy workloads, children's increased television viewing and the decline of the traditional family meal. The programme highlights the need for parents to talk to their children and suggests ways schools can boost children's speech.
TALK TO YOUR BABY
Speaking at the launch of the new Talk To Your Baby (TTYB) study, 'What's Life In A Buggy Like', which examined the impact of buggy orientation on parent-infant interaction and infant stress, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust Liz Attenborough stressed that the next step to encouraging parents to buy buggies that faced the pusher was to convince manufacturers to produce more affordable ones.
She said, 'We sent people to the moon, so we can figure this out. Manufacturers have a tremendous amount of power.'
Dr Zeedyk’s research found that children who are transported in away-facing buggies are less likely to talk, laugh and interact with parents, with implications for their brain development.
Dr Zeedyk and Ms Attenborough said that 18 out of 20 mothers who took part in the study would recommend a pusher-facing buggy. But they noted that away- facing pushchairs were available for under £15, while pusher-facing models could cost hundreds of pounds.
Dr Zeedyk questioned the assumption that babies should be able to view the environment around them when out in their buggy. She said that children need their parents to interpret the environment for them, and pointed out that prams and pushchairs in the past were made to face the pusher.
TTYB is now looking for more funding to carry out a wider study taking a cross-cultural perspective.
'Tonight with Trevor McDonald' is on ITV1 at 8pm on Monday 24 November.
