A new study argues that children under two should not engage in screen time activities altogether.
Screen Time For Toddlers Below 2 Years Old
The researchers behind the study note that any screen exposure for toddlers and babies could harm their sensory development. They urge parents to remove screens until their child reaches two years old.
According to David Bennet, a psychologist from Drexel University and the study's senior author, the research discovered that kids below the age of 2 who were exposed to movies and television had a higher likelihood of developing issues pertaining to sensory development.
Bennet notes that if a child consistently shuns being held and attempts to escape noisy environments, and if this starts to stress the parent, this could signify an underlying concern.
According to doctors, signs of low registration among children should be looked out for. These children could appear too sluggish to the changes in the environment or too slow to respond when their name is being called.
On top of this, the study also discovered a correlation between screen time and autism. However, Bennet falls short of expressing that screen time could be a potential autism cause. They were wondering, as they were trying to find a link between autism behaviors and early screen exposure if sensory processing could be part of the complex connection of things.
Toddler Screen Exposure
As part of the study "Early-Life Digital Media Experiences and Development of Atypical Sensory Processing," the researchers examined screen habit data from 1,471 children who were 24 months old and younger. The researchers found that screen exposure in babies and toddlers below two years old could lead to issues with sensory exposure.
Karen Heffler, MD, an associate psychiatry professor from Drexel University, explains that they used data from the National Children's Study and examined screen exposure and outcomes of sensory processing at three different periods. The specific periods were 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months.
They discovered that screen exposure during these periods was linked to increased atypical sensory processing at 33 months.
The researchers asked caregivers certain questions regarding how the child responded to things they could hear, see, feel, experience, and touch.
The study found that at 12 months old, children had a 105% higher likelihood of developing highly sensory behaviors. At 18 months, each added hour of screen time, they boosted the odds by a whopping 23%. At 24 months, the odds increased by 20% for developing high sensory behaviors.
Heffler explains that the study's findings do not surprise them, as the sensory experiences of young children affect their neural connectivity and how they can process things.
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