Have you ever seen a tablet or phone given to a child as a solution periods of crying or whining? Giving an infant a portable device is an easy and harmless remedy to infant tantrums right?
Not exactly, a recent study published by JAMA pediatrics reveals that an increased amount of screen-based media use can lead to lower language retention and literacy skills in prekindergarten children.
Child playing with tablet Source: PxHere
Researchers studied 69 children from ages 3-5, to determine a possible existing relationship between screen-based media use and brain development. From their study, they were able to conclude that children with an increased screen time, compared to the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), showcased a lower microstructural organization and myelination of white matter tracts that support language and literacy skills.
Myelination of white matter tracts is crucial to the cognitive development of infants as it involves the formation of a myelin sheath around a nerve to allow the a quicker displacement of nerve impulses in the brain.
Cross section of human brain, the lighter parts are the white matter and the darker parts are grey matter. The white matter is coloured white because of the myelin that surrounds the nerve fibers in the brain. Source: Wikipedia
From their research, lower amount of white matter in childrens’ brains lead to a decreased level of derivation of meaning of objects, symbols, and letters, which scientists believe plays a crucial role in literacy development.
To develop these conclusions, scientists analyzed the results of a ScreenQ survey (completed by the child’s parents), which is based off of four main factors of the AAP guidelines involving the child’s access to screen, their frequency of use, the content viewed, and interactivity or co-viewing. From the survey, the researchers compared the survey results to MRI scans of the the children’s brains and also to results from a series of communication tests designed for children with developing literacy skills.
The solution to these neurobiological risks in children may be very tricky as screen-based devices can be found in almost every household and are used daily by the general public. However, a way to prevent deficiencies in child brain development can be to follow the guidelines proposed by the AAP. Some of the recommendations are:
- For toddlers younger than 18-24 months, avoid any form of media other than video chatting
- For children ages 18-24 months, only allow children to watch media with parents (co-viewing) to begin communication development though watching and talking with parents
- For children ages 2-5, allow only 1 hour a day of media exposure (educational programming) through co-viewing if possible.
To see another take on the topic, how portable device use may be beneficial to child cognitive development, check out this video:
-Bernice Huynh
