A new study has suggested excessive screen time could be harming language development in toddlers, but cutting it down is easier said than done.
Two-thirds of parents notice the negative effects of screen time on their children, and while there are reasons why you shouldn't feel guilty about screentime (sometimes it's one of the few ways parents can nab half a second of peace) excessive use has been scientifically linked to abnormal behaviour in toddlers.
And now there's more research sharing the alarming effects of too much screen time. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) Pediatrics found the average toddler is missing out on hearing more than 1,000 words spoken by an adult each day due to time spent looking at a screen.
The research tracked 220 Australian families over two years to measure the relationship between family screen use and children's language environment. The families recorded all the audio around their child using advanced speech recognition technology and repeated the process every six months between the ages of 12 and 36 months. The device also picked up electronic noise, which the researchers analysed to calculate screen time.
The researchers found that young children's exposure to screens was interfering with their language opportunities, with the association most pronounced at three years of age. For every extra minute of screen time, the three-year-olds in the study were hearing seven fewer words, speaking five fewer words themselves and engaging in one less conversation.
The findings showed that the average three-year-old was exposed to two hours and 52 minutes of screen time a day, which researchers estimated led to being exposed to 1,139 fewer adult words, 843 fewer child words, and 194 fewer conversations.
Lead researcher Dr Mary Brushe, from the Telethon Kids Institute, said: "What we know from previous research is that the more words and conversations that children can have the better when it comes to their early language development - and so we want to see those numbers as high as possible."
Because the study couldn’t capture parents’ silent phone use, such as reading emails, texting, or scrolling through social media, Dr Brushe added: "If anything, we have probably underestimated how much screen usage - and associated 'technoference' - is going on around children because we haven't been able to capture parents' silent screen-related activities, such as reading emails, texting, or quietly scrolling through websites or social media."
However, it's worth noting that the study did not differentiate between whether children were watching high- or low-quality screen content.
In related news, a new study shows half of teens admit they’re addicted to social media, and this is how long it takes for children to come across ‘unsafe, age-restricted and illegal content' online. Elsewhere, here are 15 'life-saving' questions to ask your child if they’re online gaming.
