Babies should not be exposed to any type of screen before their first birthday. This statement may seem sensible, something natural that should not be necessary to remember, however, it is a recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other pediatric societies, which also advise limiting the time spent to watch television or use smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices for a maximum of one hour a day in the case of children between the ages of two and four.
Scientific studies have linked the abuse of screens in the child population with developmental problems, and now a new investigation in which 7,097 families have participated shows that the greater the exposure of one-year-old babies to screens, the more risk they will have of experience delayed communication and problem solving problems when they are 2 to 4 years old, according to results published in JAMA Pediatrics.
The study has been led by Taku Obara, a researcher at the Tohoku University of Sendai (Japan), and has been based on questionnaires answered by the families, which allowed verifying that 3,440 children (48.5% of the population studied) were ahead of a screen less than an hour a day; 2,095 (29.5%) did it between one and two hours throughout the day; 1,272 (17.9%) spent between two and four hours in front of a screen each day and, finally, 290 (4.1%) children spent four or more hours a day in front of the television, computer, tablet or mobile.
Of the 7,097 children studied, 3,674 were boys (51.8% of the sample analysed) and 3,423 were girls (48.2%). Researchers studied issues related to development as children grew older and found an association between screen time at age one and an increased risk of delayed communication skills and problem-solving abilities. reach the age of two and four years.
Do not use electronic devices as ‘babysitters’
The authors of the study emphasize that this risk was greater the greater the exposure to screens, and they clarify that “in particular, more than four hours of exposure to screens per day was associated with delays in communication and in problem solving at two and four years of age”.
“The results of our study support those of previous research, which has also shown an association between screen time with developmental consequences,” the researchers state in the scientific journal, where they conclude that “these findings suggest that domains of developmental delay should be considered separately in future discussions of screen time and child development.
Other experts have also warned about the risks inherent in children’s exposure to screens; thus, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 18 months of age do not use these devices, except when it comes to video calls, and in these cases they must always be accompanied by an adult.
Regarding young children between two and five years old, they cannot spend more than one hour a day in front of the screens and parents must be with them at this time to supervise the content and facilitate their understanding. In addition, electronic devices should never be used during meals, nor used as a babysitter to entertain them, and it is better that screens are not placed in children’s rooms.
