Infant Screen Time Drives Later Developmental Delays

Permitting infants to view tv, phone, pad, or computer screens over their first year of life leads to markedly faulty communication and problem-solving skills. Japanese child development researchers report this finding following their study of 7,097 children.

Of the group 48.5% watched less than an hour a day and served as controls, 29.5% watched 1-2 hours/day, 17.9% watched 2-4 hours/day, and 4.1% watched 4 or more hours/day. Developmental analyses at 2 years revealed that those infants watching 1-2 hrs/day compared with less than 1 hour had a 61% higher risk of communication delays. That risk doubled (2.04) for those watching 2-4 hrs, and was almost 5-fold higher (4.78) for those watching 4 hrs or more a day. Problem solving was also impaired by 2 years with a 40% higher risk for those watching 2-4 hrs/day and a nearly 3-fold (2.67) risk for those watching 4 hrs or more.

While it is tempting to use video as an electronic nanny, think twice about permitting your baby to gaze at the screen hour after hour.

http://tiny.cc/145avz

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