MUMBAI: Media-savvy children in the US are tuning into television programmes and are using increasingly sophisticated media at a younger age..

A report The US Kids Market, 6th Edition focusses on the trends in the three to 12 year-old population and was conducted by market research publisher Packaged Facts. The report reveals that watching television is a universal activity among 98 per cent of 4- to-6-year-olds.

More disturbingly the report indicates that a nightmarish scenario of the baby couch potato is becoming a reality. 89 per cent of zero to three year olds are tuning in. Further, two out of three kids in this tender age bracket have turned the TV on by themselves, while more than half can change channels with the remote.

The report also noted that these children spend as much time outside as they do using screen media, like TV, videos and DVDs, computers, and video games. These statistics, combined with the fact that 70 per cent of four to six year olds and 31 per cent of kids three and under have used a computer, help to explain why the influence of media on U.S. children, and children on parental buying decisions through pester power is growing.

The report shows that 41 per cent of parents agree that kids significantly influence brand purchasing, while 69 per cent agree that kids are over-exposed to materialism. Packaged Facts has stated that perhaps the most surprising finding was how kids have become adept at manipulating the technology and their parents.