[ad_1]
A new study links excessive preschool time and behavioral problems at five years of age.
The research examined more than 2,400 families and compared children who had at least two hours of daily listening to those under 30 minutes a day.
Children who spent more time in front of screens were five times more likely to have clinically significant "externalizing" behavior problems, such as inattention. They were also more than seven times more likely to meet the criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but without aggression.
Pediatric Professor of the University of Alberta, Piush Mandhane, who led the study, said that time spent in front of a screen was badociated with more problems than any other risk factor taken into account, including sleep, parental stress and socio-economic factors.
And the impact is significant, he says.
"It's a big study (and) that shows increases of five times, seven times. It's not a small number, "says Mandhane. "It's a lot of increased risk."
Parents have brought television, DVDs, computers, video consoles, smart phones and tablets to the screen every day.
On average, three-year-olds spend an hour and a half per day in front of a screen, while five-year-olds spend an average of 1.4 hours per day in front of a screen.
Current Canadian guidelines suggest a daily limit of one hour for preschool children and a daily limit of two hours for five year olds. Children under 2 should not have time in front of the screen.
Mandhane suggests that this time be reduced to less than 30 minutes a day, but stop before discouraging time spent in front of a screen. He added that parents should teach children to adopt responsible filtering habits and adopt this behavior themselves.
"It's the perfect time to talk about what is a healthy relationship with screens," he says of the early years.
Mandhane said that the whole day mattered, adding that the more children spent time with screens, the less likely they were to sleep a full night – another risk factor in problematic behaviors.
An important prevention factor turned out to be an organized sport.
Children who have more than two hours a week of structured athletics run less risk of developing behavioral problems.
Mandhane emphasizes that "the activity must be structured" and that physical activity in general does not seem to have the same preventive impact.
The research used data from the CHILD Cohort Study, a national birth cohort study that brings together a range of information on the health, lifestyle and genetics of nearly 3,500 children and their families from the United States. pregnancy in adolescence.
Data was collected between 2013 and 2017 and includes Karla Bergstrom's experiments in St. Albert, Alberta.
Bergstrom, who has three boys aged 8, 11 and 13, says she was not surprised by the results.
"If it's a weekend and it's miserable on the outside, the Canadian winter, yes, they may have a lot more time on the screen that we do not usually like it – and that's when they become moody and tend to be more talkative and more aggressive, "says Bergstrom, whose boys each have an iPad and share a game system.
"They really need fresh air and play."
She submitted information about her youngest son, Colby, now 8, who has been using mobile devices since he was a child.
Colby says that he knows that too much time on the screen is not a good thing for him and admits to arguing "from time to time" when his mother tells him to turn off his iPad . But he has also played hockey and baseball since the age of three.
Bergstrom says that Colby has no problem with his behavior. She attributes to sport and daily tasks to help her learn the discipline.
The results were published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.
The study did not examine the content or type of screen, such as television, computer or tablet.
Mandhane suggests that parents limit the screen time by setting firm "no screen" hours during the day or by setting a timer on a device so that it automatically turns off after a set period of time .
"If a child learns it's automatic and it's not going to turn on, he's going to find out what else he needs to do because he's not going to stay in front of a black screen for too long."
– By Cbadandra Szklarski in Toronto
The Canadian press
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
[ad_2]
Source link
