Babies’ screen time & developmental delays

What happens when one-year-olds spend time on screen devices?

To answer this question, researchers from Japan took a look at over 7000 babies to see how they developed over the next three years.

They recruited pregnant women and followed them up with questionnaires when their children were aged one, two and four. Questions related to the amount of time children spent watching screens (TV, DVDs, video games, internet, mobile phones, tablets or other electronic devices) and to the following five domains of development:

  • communication (‘babbling, vocalizing, and understanding’)

  • gross motor skills (‘arm, body, and leg movement’)

  • fine motor skills (‘hand and finger movement’)

  • problem -solving skills (‘learning and playing with toys’) and

  • social skills (‘solitary social play and playing with toys and other children’).

The investigators found a link between screen time and developmental delays by age 2 in the areas of communication, fine motor skills, problem-solving and social skills. The more time the babies spent using screens, the greater the developmental delays they observed. For example, one-year-olds who spent four or more hours a day using screens had, by age 2:

  • more than four and a half times the risk of delays in communication than babies who spent less than one hour a day on screens at age 1;

  • more than one and a half times the risk of delays in fine motor skills than babies who spent less than one hour a day on screens at age 1;

  • more than two and a half times the risk of delays in problem-solving skills than babies who spent less than one hour a day on screens at age 1;

  • more than double the risk of delays in personal and social skills than babies who spent less than one hour a day on screens at age 1.

Some of these delays persisted over time. The authors said, ‘We also observed an association between screen time at age 1 year and developmental delay at age 4 years in the communication … and problem-solving … domains.’

The study also cast light on the characteristics of mothers of the high-screen-use babies. The authors wrote, ‘Mothers of children with high levels of screen time were characterized as being younger, having never given birth, and having a lower household income, lower maternal education level, and having postpartum depression.’

The authors noted that ‘...the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued guidelines that recommend limiting screen time for children, including a limit of 1 hour per day for children aged 2 to 5 years. However, a recent meta-analysis reported that only a minority of children meet these guidelines.’

Takahashi I, Obara T, Ishikuro M, et al. Screen Time at Age 1 Year and Communication and Problem-Solving Developmental Delay at 2 and 4 Years. JAMA Pediatr. 2023;177(10):1039–1046. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3057

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What can you do?

  • Don’t give babies screen devices to play with.

  • Give children books to look at and toys that encourage manual dexterity.

  • Encourage children to spend time in nature.

What else can you do?

  • forward this email to others to inform them, too

  • see the latest news in our December newsletter EMR and Health here

  • book a phone consultation to find answers to your questions here.

December 2, 2023

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