Just about every parent will admit to sometime letting the kids watch TV while they cook dinner, kill time on the iPad at the restaurant and play video games for fun. But according to a newly published study in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, all those hours of electronic babysitting come at a steep cost?especially for children under five.
?What we found in this study is that kids who get excessive screen time are experiencing delays in development,? says Sheri Madigan, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary, and lead author of the study.
In fact, excessive screen time is believed to a be a contributing factor in the growing problem of school readiness?an estimated one in four Canadian children are starting kindergarten inadequately prepared for learning. ?If kids are in front of screens, there are a lot of missed opportunities for learning,? says Madigan, who also holds a Canada Research Chair in the Determinants of Child Development. ?You?re watching a screen, so you?re not learning how to ride a bike, or throw a ball, or print your name, or you?re not interacting with your caregiver, which, when positive, can be really important for helping kids thrive.?
The study explored the link between screen time and early child development in 2,500 Alberta homes between 2011 and 2016. Caregivers reported on the number of hours their kids spent using electronics devices including TVs, smart phones and tablets, video games and other dig...