An investigation revealed that mobile phones are as bad for kids as junk food

New research indicates that the excessive use of technological devices has negative consequences on the development of childrenespecially when the habit is concentrated in the first years of life.

"Parents can think of screens as if they were giving junk food to their kids. In small doses, it is not so bad, but beyond that, it has consequences, "says Sheri Madigan, a psychologist at Canygan University in Canada, who led this work.

The study was extended for ten years, badyzing the behavior of 2,400 children. Madigan recruited pregnant women who consented to the participation and examination of their future children.

"The novelty of this study is that we study very young children, aged two to five, when brain development progresses very rapidly," says the specialist.

Conclusions and limitations of the survey

The central question of this study is how does this affect exposure to screens (cell phones, tablets, television, computers, video game consoles, etc.) in the development of children. The conclusion: the longer the time is compared to technology between two and three years, the better the performances of these children at age five are worse in development tests.

The researchers badyzed five skills: communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem solving and sociability. They did it through different tests. For example, stringing them with beads or asking them to form sentences with a specific number of words.

"When young children are watching screens, they can miss important opportunities put into practice and master interpersonal, motor and communication skills, "they point out, in line with several reports badociating the excessive use of technology with child development issues.

In addition, the report states that habit negatively influences speech development and harms children's sleep. Madigan's research included variables such as the bad of minors, socio-economic and family conditions. In this sense, although they found differences in performance, for example between children who were encouraged to read at home and those who did not, the final results were maintained: The longer the exposure to screens, the worse the development.

Madigan argues that this long-term study supports the directional badociation between the moment of use and the development of the device. That is to say that the survey shows that the excessive habit influences development and that, overall, the relationship is not occasional.

The main criticism received by this survey is that did not badyze separately the different experiments in front of the screens. For example, he does not distinguish between the habit of a baby watching two hours in a row videos online and that of a little one who plays a video game didactics or the differences between the technology available ten years ago and that currently available for many children.

At the end of the day, the report it does not incite to prohibit but to control. "I recommend that pediatricians and health professionals tell parents the appropriate time to control the exposure and discuss the possible consequences of overuse," Madigan said in a statement. The Guardian.