A new study being presented this week at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting found that tablet and smartphone use by babies and toddlers correlates with a speech delay. Researchers at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children assessed 894 children from six months to two years. By their 18-month checkup, children who were on tablets or smartphones for 30 minutes or more a day had a 49 percent increased chance of delayed expressive speech.
The researchers used a checklist (a validated speech delay screening tool) to see if the children who had regular time on a tablet or smartphone used sounds or words to get attention or help and, if so, how many words they used and how they put them together. Catherine Birken, MD, the study’s principal investigator says:
“Handheld devices are everywhere these days,... While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay.”
The study supports the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation for no screen time for children 18 months and younger. However, the AAP guidelines allow for use of high-quality programming watched with a parent or caregiver for toddlers 18 months to 2 years. I believe this most recent study points to why screen time for kids under 24 months is not a good idea. There is substantial evidence that shows language is learned much better with human-to-human than with a computer.
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Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
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A new study being presented this week at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting found that tablet and smartphone use by babies and toddlers correlates with a speech delay. Researchers at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children assessed 894 children from six months to two years. By their 18-month checkup, children who were on tablets or smartphones for 30 minutes or more a day had a 49 percent increased chance of delayed expressive speech.
The researchers used a checklist (a validated speech delay screening tool) to see if the children who had regular time on a tablet or smartphone used sounds or words to get attention or help and, if so, how many words they used and how they put them together. Catherine Birken, MD, the study’s principal investigator says:
“Handheld devices are everywhere these days,... While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay.”
The study supports the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation for no screen time for children 18 months and younger. However, the AAP guidelines allow for use of high-quality programming watched with a parent or caregiver for toddlers 18 months to 2 years. I believe this most recent study points to why screen time for kids under 24 months is not a good idea. There is substantial evidence that shows language is learned much better with human-to-human than with a computer.
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A new study being presented this week at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting found that tablet and smartphone use by babies and toddlers correlates with a speech delay. Researchers at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children assessed 894 children from six months to two years. By their 18-month checkup, children who were on tablets or smartphones for 30 minutes or more a day had a 49 percent increased chance of delayed expressive speech.
The researchers used a checklist (a validated speech delay screening tool) to see if the children who had regular time on a tablet or smartphone used sounds or words to get attention or help and, if so, how many words they used and how they put them together. Catherine Birken, MD, the study’s principal investigator says:
“Handheld devices are everywhere these days,... While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay.”
The study supports the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation for no screen time for children 18 months and younger. However, the AAP guidelines allow for use of high-quality programming watched with a parent or caregiver for toddlers 18 months to 2 years. I believe this most recent study points to why screen time for kids under 24 months is not a good idea. There is substantial evidence that shows language is learned much better with human-to-human than with a computer.
Thoughtful family tech rules help protect kids’ wellbeing, learning, and sleep while strengthening connection at home. Using the fresh start of a new year, this post shares eight practical tech habits families can discuss and adapt together, including shared social media check-ins, screen time inventories, device-free meals, regular gaming breaks, and keeping phones out of bedrooms at night.
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Psychologist Jean Twenge explains how parental controls can support healthier tech use by protecting sleep, limiting late night device access, and reducing kids’ exposure to content they are not developmentally ready to handle. She discusses why third party parental control tools are often more effective and easier to use than built in options, while acknowledging that no system is perfect. Clear boundaries, combined with technology based limits, can reduce ongoing conflict and make screen time rules easier to enforce.
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for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
