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A new study suggests that toddlers who spend too much time in front of their TVs, tablets, and smartphones are not as good at solving problems, communicating, and acquiring other skills that are needed for them. school, unlike their peers less exposed to the screen.
The children in the study spent an average of 17 hours on screen two weeks and 25 hours a week at the age of three. This far exceeds the daily limit of an hour recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics in order to give children enough time for creative games and interactions with caregivers and their peers.
"The time spent in front of a screen is most often a sedentary or pbadive behavior, with very few learning opportunities," said Sheri Madigan, lead author of the study, "It's all about". University of Calgary and the Research Institute of Alberta Children's Hospital in Canada.
Part of the problem is that the brains of toddlers are not developed enough to apply what they've learned from two-dimensional screens to what they live in three-dimensional life, Madigan said by mail. electronic.
"If they see building blocks on the screen, it will not help them build blocks in real life," Madigan said.
Another reason that the time spent on the screen can slow down development is that hours spent in front of TVs and tablets mean that children may not be able to scribble with pencils or play games. games that help them learn to hit a ball or take turns.
"These are essential skills in early childhood because mastering these skills is necessary before further development can take place," Madigan said. "You have to walk before you can run and you have to know how to hold a pencil before you can write your name."
Compared to toddlers with less screen time, 2-year-olds with more screen time tended to have lower scores at 3 years on developmental testing. who measured communication, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving and social skills.
The same pattern was observed in three-year-olds. The more time they spent on the screen, the more successful they were in developmental testing at the age of five.
For the study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers interviewed 2,441 Canadian mothers about how much their children spent on weekdays and weekends watching television, movies or videos. play video games; or using computers, tablets or other devices such as smartphones.
Mothers also completed questionnaires on children's progress with a series of developmental milestones during the study.
The researchers also tested the reverse causality, that is to say, they wanted to know if parents chose to place young children with developmental problems in front of screens more than the children below. age having no development problems. This, however, did not seem to be true, suggesting that the time spent in front of a screen may have contributed to development delays and not that these delays could have caused children to spend more time on the screen.
The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how the time spent in front of a screen early in childhood could have a direct bearing on the results of development later in the year. childhood.
Still, this adds to a growing body of evidence linking a limited screen time to better cognitive, physical and psychological development in early childhood, said Gary Goldfield, a researcher at the University of Ottawa. who did not participate in the study.
"The majority of kids of all ages are exceeding screen time recommendations, so parents need to be stricter by setting healthy limits," Goldfield said via e-mail.
<! – "For those who exceed the recommendations, parents can mitigate some of the negative effects of time spent in front of a screen by ensuring that it does not interfere with adequate sleep (which often happens at home). older children and youth), daily physical activity or active play, stimulating and positive face-to-face interaction with parents, educators and, of course, other children, "added Mr. Goldfield.
When children have time spent in front of a screen, it should be a high-quality programming designed for development, said Dr. Suzy Tomopoulos, of NYU's Hbadenfeld Children's Hospital. Langone and Bellevue Hospital New York.
"Parents can minimize risk if the screen duration is child-friendly, if it has educational content and if it is viewed with the child," said Tomopoulos, not involved in the study, by email. "Parents should also turn off the television when no one is watching them, during meals and an hour before bedtime."
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