Do you want your child to grow up smart? Limit your screen time to an hour a day, a study suggests
- You should also engage in traditional play for at least 15 minutes a day
- This increases brain function and in turn improves children’s memory
- Hours in front of screens can increase the risk of obesity, low self-esteem and ADHD
According to a study, children who spend less than an hour each day using iPads and other devices develop better brains than their peers.
Researchers in Illinois found that two-year-olds who limited screen time to 60 minutes and engaged in traditional play for at least 15 minutes a day had better executive functioning than toddlers who spent more time with electronics.
They had higher scores than their peers for memory, attention span, decision making, and multitasking ability.
Playing outdoors or with traditional toys is believed to flood the brain with blood, enlarge blood vessels and strengthen neuron connections, making it easier for children to achieve cognitive development.
Staring at electronics, on the other hand, does not stimulate the brain and is believed to thin the brain’s cortex, which manages critical thinking and reasoning.
According to figures, toddlers in the US spend an average of two and a half hours a day watching TV, iPads, cell phones or video games.
In the UK, Ofcom estimates that three to four year olds spend three hours a day in front of a screen.
Children’s screen time is believed to have increased significantly during the pandemic, when home schooling and lockdowns became common.
Children who spend hours staring at screens may be at increased risk of obesity, low self-esteem and attention deficit disorder. The Illinois study found that it also reduced brain function
In the latest study, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examined data from 356 young children in the United States.
Parents reported on their children’s physical activity every day and tracked their screen time and diet through one-off surveys.
They were also asked to rate their child’s memory, ability to plan and organize their thoughts, manage their emotional responses, refrain from impulsive behavior, and switch between tasks.
They did this using the Behavioral Rating Inventory for Executive Function for Preschoolers, a 63-item survey in which they rated the number of times their toddler exhibited different everyday behaviors.
Toddlers who used electronic devices for less than an hour a day were significantly better at remembering information, controlling impulses, and having better overall executive functioning.
Children who were more physically active for at least 15 minutes more per day also performed better on memory retrieval.
Infancy is a sensitive period of cognitive development and rapid brain growth, meaning factors like diet, exercise and screen time play key roles, the researchers said.
Naiman Khan, professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and study leader, said: “Executive function rests on your ability to engage in goal-directed behaviors.
“These include skills like inhibitory control, which allows you to regulate your thoughts, emotions, and behavior; working memory, which allows you to retain information long enough to complete a task; and cognitive flexibility, the dexterity with which you switch your attention between tasks or competing demands.’
He added, “The impact of healthy behaviors on cognitive abilities appears to be evident in early childhood, particularly in behaviors related to physical activity and sedentary time.”
The results were published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend less than 60 minutes of screen time per day for children ages two to five.
They also advise physical activity, five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and no sugar-sweetened beverages.
Too much screen time… what are the risks?
2018 data from ongoing National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies found that children who spend two hours a day in front of screens perform lower on language and reasoning tests.
And those with excessive screen time showed premature thinning of the cortex, the outer layer of the brain that processes sensory information.
A 2013 study from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that children who spend hours in front of screens were more likely to gain weight over their lifetime because screen time leads to poor eating habits.
Meanwhile, a 2004 study from Seattle’s Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center found that watching television in children ages one to three can lead to attention deficits by age seven.
A 2018 Oxford University study showed that increased screen time slightly reduced the amount of sleep children get per night.
There are also serious implications for children’s well-being.
Researchers at the University of Exeter found in 2009 that longer television viewing was associated with lower self-esteem and self-esteem.
There are also lower levels of happiness, researchers from the University of British Columbia found the same year.