SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Children should not watch television until they turn two because it can hurt their language development and ability to concentrate, according to new guidelines for Australians.

The government recommendations, contained in the Get Up And Grow report, also say that children aged two to five should watch no more than an hour of television a day, The Australian newspaper reported yesterday.

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'Based on recent research, it is recommended that children younger than two years of age should not spend any time watching television or using other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games),' the guidelines say.

'Screen time...may reduce the amount of time they have for active play, social contact with others and chances for language development,' according to the draft copy of the guidelines obtained by The Australian.

Statistics show that four-month-old infants in the country watch on average 44 minutes of TV each day and children under the age of four with pay TV at home spend at least three hours a day in front of the screen.

The draft guidelines in the report for healthy eating and exercise in early childhood were devised by Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.

The guidelines, which are designed for childcare centres, also offer advice for parents, and are intended to help curb the spread of the obesity epidemic which has left Australian children heavier than ever.

'They (parents) really should seek alternatives for children in terms of entertaining them, engaging them and helping their brains develop,' said Dr Jo Salmon, one of the authors of the report.

She said there is no evidence that children benefit from watching TV, and warned parents that using the television as a babysitter is not a good habit to get into, ABC News reported.

'Children need to be physically active and if parents and childcare centres are simply placing them in front of a television set and leaving them there, then it cuts down the amount of time that they are actually involved in other healthy activities,' said Mr Glenn Cuppitt, a senior lecturer in child development at the University of South Australia.

He said the new guidelines are a measure of desperation to encourage children to be active and to interact with others.

But the recommendations, expected to be released next week, have not been welcomed by all quarters. One blogger, writing on news.com.au, narrated how her son learnt to dance, do a fake smile and wriggle his nose from a TV show.

While she was against 'plonking the kid in front of a TV all day long', she called the guidelines drastic.

'It's great to see a real lion (on TV), to see how it moves in the wild and...to hear how they roar,' she pointed out.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.