Screen time is the amount of time a child or adult spends in front of a TV, computer, phone or tablet screen. Scientists have long studied the effects of this on children’s health, often with ambiguous conclusions. Previous studies have all looked at the effects of screen time on the health of children aged nine and over, but what about the youngest?

A new study on child development

Scientists from Japan’s Tohoku University tried to find out whether there is a link between the time one-year-olds spend in front of a TV screen and tablet and their later development, especially in motor skills, communication and social skills.

The research was carried out in three stages. The first contained a survey; 7,097 young mothers whose children were one year old participated in the survey. Women had to answer the question: “How many hours a day do you let your children watch TV, DVDs, play video games, play games on phones and tablets?”

Participants had to choose one of the suggested answers: “does not allow”, “less than an hour”, “one to two hours”, “two to four hours”, “four hours or more”.

The survey revealed that 48.5% of respondents allow their one-year-old children to use electronic devices less than one hour a day, while only 4.1% allow more than four hours a day to use electronic devices.

Screen time has a negative impact on children’s development

After the children first reached the age of two and then four, the second and third stages of the study were completed, respectively. At these stages, women were advised to participate in the ASQ-3 questionnaire, a screening method for parents to assess the development of children aged two months to 5.5 years at home. This screening allows parents to learn about the basic developmental norms of young children.

Scientists have observed a link between longer time spent in front of a gadget screen at one year old and a higher risk of developmental delays in communication, fine motor skills, personality and social skills at age two.

At age four (stage three of the study), children who spent more time in front of a screen at age one had problems communicating and solving daily tasks, while also having difficulties with fine motor skills and personal development. qualities and social skills observed in two years

The researchers noted that children who spend more than four hours a day in front of a screen have problems communicating and solving daily tasks at both the ages of two and four.