A recent study published in the American Medical Association Journal of Pediatrics has shed light on the detrimental effects of prolonged exposure to screens in infants and one-year-olds.
According to the findings of this study, spending more than four hours a day in front of electronic devices has a significant impact on children’s development, especially their communication skills and resolution of problems during the stage of 2 to 4 years.
Research highlights that children exposed to long periods of time in front of screens experience delays in several crucial aspects of their growth. In addition to problems with communication and problem solving, these delays have been found to affect fine motor development, as well as personal and social skills. These aspects are essential for the integral development of a child, since they influence her ability to interact with the world around them and to build meaningful relationships.
Child development experts have pointed out that the main reason behind these delays could be related to the decreased time children spend interacting face-to-face with real people..
As children spend more time in front of a screen, their exposure to the genuine facial expressions and tone of voice that are critical to learning and understanding the subtleties of human communication is reduced. Direct interaction with parents, caregivers, and playmates provides a nurturing environment where children can learn to interpret nonverbal cues and develop their social skills.
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The researchers indicated that one aspect that their study did not address, and that will have to be analyzed in the future, is the distinction between the time spent consuming educational content and that used as simple entertainment for children.. They explained that it is very important to know this since many parents tend to use this mechanism so that children have access to educational material in a didactic way.
David J. Lewkowicz, a developmental psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center, says that when asked how much time children should spend in front of a screen, the best answer is to tell them to talk to their children face to face as much as possible and as often. as possible as this helps improve their development.
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