Absorbent and yellow and porous he may be, but a new study suggests "Spongebob Squarepants" is also rotting your 4-year-old's brains.
Children of that age who watch just 9 minutes of the wildly popular Nickelodeon animated series may suffer short-term attention and learning problems, according to a study published in the medical journal, Pediatrics.
The study included just 60 kids, who were randomly chosen to watch 9 minutes of "Spongebob Squarepants," or the PBS series "Caillou," or simply draw pictures. They were then given mental function tests, and those who were tasked with watching the undersea fry cook did far worse than the other children.
"What kids watch matters, it's not just how much they watch," said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a child development specialist at Seattle Children's Hospital who wrote an editorial that was published in the Pediatrics journal along with the study.
"Spongebob," and other similar shows, can cause problems in toddlers because of their fast pace, argued the study's lead author, Angeline Lillard, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia.
"I wouldn't advise watching such shows on the way to school or any time they're expected to pay attention and learn," she said, according to The Associated Press.
A spokesman for Nickelodeon quickly dismissed the study, which he argued was flawed.
"Having 60 non-diverse kids, who are not part of the show's targeted [audience], watch 9 minutes of programming is questionable methodology and could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust," he told AP, adding that "Spongebob Squarepants" is a show meant for kids 6 to 11, not 4.
Lillard admitted that the study only focuses on 4-year-old children, and could not be used as a basis to say if the same effect would be seen in older kids. The children were also not tested prior to the study, so it is unclear how they would have scored before watching the programs.
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