“The study fills an important gap because it identifies specific developmental delays (in skills) such as communication and problem-solving associated with screen time,” said Nagata, noting there haven’t been many prior studies that studied this issue with several years of follow-up data.
The study measured how many hours children used screens per day at age 1 and how they performed in several developmental domains — communication skills, fine motor skills, personal and social skills, and problem-solving skills — at ages 2 and 4.
By age 2, those who had had up to four hours of screen time per day were up to three times more likely to experience developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills.
“Kids learn how to talk if they’re encouraged to talk, and very often, if they’re just watching a screen, they’re not having an opportunity to practice talking,” he said.
Be choosy about when you rely on screen time, and turn devices off when they’re not in use, Nagata said.
Persons:
“, who’ve, ”, Jason Nagata, wasn’t, Nagata, haven’t, John Hutton, “ It’s, Hutton, they’re, ” Nagata, ” Hutton, that’s, “ There’s
Organizations:
CNN, University of California, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, “, American Academy of Pediatrics
Locations:
San Francisco, Japan, Tohoku, Miyagi, Iwate, Cincinnati