According to the latest research, handheld screens can cause a child's ability to form words, form sentences, and other communication skills to decline. So, how much contact should our child have with the screen, for how many hours?
Catherine Birken, a pediatrician and scientist at the Children's Hospital in Toronto, conducted a study based on checks that evaluate a child's growth, development and health. Between 2011 and 2015, she asked parents to estimate how much time their children spent on screens, i.e. tablets, TVs and computers. He made an evaluation measuring delayed communication skills of all children and examined approximately 900 children from the age of 24 months to the age of 6.
When the 18-month doctor's checks were examined, 20% of the children had an average of 28 minutes of screen contact every day. When we look at the children touching the screen, they showed signs of delay in their communication skills, that is, in using sounds and words to express themselves and forming sentences by combining them. Every 30 minutes added to the time spent with the screen was associated with a risk of 49% in the child's communication skills.
So when should children and babies be introduced to the screen?
There are many things that children under the age of 5 can learn from the screen. is limited. Babies between 6-14 months are attracted to the figures on the screen. They may repeat some of the things they see on the screen. But they don't learn. They start to make sense of it after the age of 2. However, it is very difficult for children to reconcile what they see on the screen with what they see in real life and bring it to life. Instead, face-to-face communication and contact with their parents or caregivers allows them to learn more.
Children between the ages of 0-3 should not come into contact with the screen. It has been observed that more than 2 hours of screen time a day causes speech delays, especially in babies younger than 12 months. Long-term exposure to television in the background also negatively affects language development, attention ability, cognitive skills and executive functions in children under 5 years of age.
What kind of harm does it cause physically? According to a study conducted in Canada in 2009, children who watch television for only 1 hour a day are more likely to be overweight than those who do not. i is 50% more. According to a systematic review conducted in 2012, it was observed that the eating habits of children who watched television for 1 hour a day, especially between the ages of 2-6, were negatively affected.
When the cases of autism started to increase continuously in studies conducted in Romania, they decided to examine this situation. Researchers have noticed a link between TV, tablet and computer use and autism. We are in a period where children with high screen exposure are confused with autism symptoms. This period is called virtual autism. In my sessions, I look at families who come with a suspicion similar to autism. The child is not autism, but virtual autism. In other words, he has been exposed to the screen too much and his vocabulary, sentence making, communication skills, tone of voice, and eye contact skills have declined significantly.
Accordingly, my suggestions to families about screen use are as follows:
From 18 months old You should completely prevent young children from contact with the screen.
Children between the ages of 3-5 should not have screen contact for more than 1 hour a day. The program should be watched with the child, programs with high quality content should be selected and you should try to help them adapt what they see on the screen.
Children should not be fed in front of the screen. Because it causes not a feeling of fullness in the stomach.
You should restrict social media use and content for children aged 6 and over. You should take care that it does not replace behaviors such as sleep and physical activity that are necessary for health.
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