Too much screen time early on could cost your babies in terms of their development. That's the finding of a new study that may have many parents rethinking their children's viewing habits.
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00:00 You know, too much screen time early on could cost your babies in terms of their development.
00:05 It's the finding of a new study which may have many parents rethinking their children's
00:09 viewing habits.
00:10 Here's ABC's Alison Kosick.
00:13 This morning, a new warning for parents.
00:16 Researchers say too much screen time for babies at one year old is linked to developmental
00:21 delays by the time they become toddlers.
00:25 Increased screen time, whether that is from computers, tablets, video games, any type
00:30 of screen at age one, is associated with some developmental delays, whether that is motor
00:35 communication, social skills, speaking.
00:38 Pediatrician Alok Patel says the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics is significant
00:44 because it looks at the impacts of screen exposure on babies, finding that anywhere
00:49 from one to four hours of screen time could have long-lasting effects.
00:55 Parents at age one who have an excessive amount of screen time are lacking that face-to-face
01:00 human interaction, which is how they learn about speech, intonation, listening skills,
01:05 and essentially everything about the world at that age.
01:07 Are there educational benefits, though, with screen time?
01:10 You know, there is no distinction in this study between educational programming and
01:16 programming designed for pure entertainment.
01:18 And the researchers do acknowledge that this is another area that needs to be explored
01:22 to differentiate these two.
01:24 Because while the American Academy of Pediatrics does say that under the age of two they recommend
01:28 no screen time, they do recognize that parents out there are going to rely on screens at
01:33 some point in time.
01:34 So how much screen time is okay?
01:37 In a perfect world under the age of two, screen time would be kept at an absolute minimum.
01:43 And then above the age of two, about two to five, we try to keep it to about an hour a
01:47 day.
01:48 Zoom is totally okay.
01:49 If you're swimming with grandma or grandpa, you're still practicing speech.
01:53 Dr. Patel encourages parents to interact with your kids while watching hopefully high-quality
01:59 programming, but he also cautions not to use screens as an emotional crutch or as a quick-fix
02:06 way to soothe your children.
02:08 Allison Kosick, ABC News, New York.