Toddlers glued to screens miss out on 1,100 ‘critical’ words a day, study warns
CHILDREN glued to iPads learn fewer words and chat less, a study found.
A tech-obsessed three-year-old can miss out on hearing 1,100 words a day, it said.
Kids are less likely to speak to their parents and learn new lingo for every additional minute they spend on devices or in front of the TV, Australian researchers found.
Dr Mary Brushe, of the University of Adelaide, said: “We know the amount of talk and interaction children experience is critical for their early language development.
“This study highlights that screen time may be getting in the way of that.”
The World Health Organization recommends children aged under 36 months should not have more than one hour a day on screens.
Read more on screen time
But some children spend up to six hours a day on digital devices, according to previous research.
Studies have shown children in the UK aged between five and 16 years spend an average of two to three hours per day watching television.
They spend one to three hours on the internet, one to two hours playing video games and over an hour on mobile phones or tablets.
The average three-year-old can recognise around 1,000 words.
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The latest paper, published in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at how screen time in younger ages affects kids’ language skills.
Some 220 children were given Fitbit-like devices that measured how much noise from conversations with their parents or electronic devices they hear a day.
Young children’s exposure to screen time is interfering with opportunities to talk
Dr Mary Brushe
They wore them for 16 hours at a time at age 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months.
The average three-year-old in the study spent just under three hours on a screen every day.
Dr Brusche said: “Young children’s exposure to screen time is interfering with opportunities to talk and interact in their home environment.
“The results were most profound when children reached three years of age.
“Just one minute of screen time was associated with seven fewer adult words and one less back-and-forth interaction.”
The maximum screen time your child should have a day
Here are WHO's screen time recommendations by age:
- Infant (less than one year of age): Screen time is not recommended.
- One to two years of age: No screen time for a 1-year-old. No more than an hour for 2-year-olds, with less time preferred.
- Three to four years old: No more than one hour.
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