Now a days screen takes away pretty much of our good time. The concept of screen time has become more complex and access to it is very easy. And it has started to affect human beings on every level, starting from relationships to mental health.
Little children talking to siri/ alexa and playing their favorite cartoon is not a wonder. In fact parents take lot of pride in their children’s screen knowledge. Children reading book won’t catch anyone’s eye but children using phones will catch many. The generalization of screens among children has become common. But the effect of screen time in small children especially in children below 4 years is much more deeper than you think.
The brain of the child grows rapidly from the time of birth until early childhood. During this period for the better development of the brain, child should receive good exposure to nature. The child should interact with people, play and explore the world around them. Playing is an integral part of the child’s development. How well they are playing and how much time they are playing will determine the child’s overall development. When you introduce screen to a baby, which limits all the options to learn and develop their skills. There are many studies from all around the world have proven the grave effect of screen time in children.
The new study done by Hutton and colleagues to evaluate the potential impacts of screen time for children using MRI technique called Diffusion tensor imaging in preschool children. These studies allowed a good look at the white matter of the brain, responsible for organizing communication between the various parts of the brain’s grey matter. Think of white matter as cables which are connecting the various parts of the brain so they can talk to each other.
The studies have proven that functional connectivity between brain networks supporting language, imagery and other functions were strongest and most balanced during an illustrated story book format compared to animated version of the story. The lack of development of white matter can slow down the brain’s processing speed. On the other hand juggling or learning and practicing musical instrument improves the organization and structure of the brain’s white matter.
In another longitudinal cohort study done in 400 children in Singapore from infancy to 9 years of age using EEG to study brain waves. They found out the more time children had spent with screens at 12 months of age, the stronger were their slow frequency brain waves known as theta waves compared to high frequency beta waves. A higher theta to beta ratio indicates a less alert status and has been associated with inattention correlating with EEG’s Dr Evlyn Law and her colleagues found that every increase in average screen time the children had more difficulty with attention and struggle with executive functioning.
According to AAP (American academy of pediatrics), no screen time for children up to 2 years of age. For children between 2-5 year of age, only 1hr/day is recommended. Choose high quality educational content also parents who watch along with the children can bring more successful outcomes of the screen.
In conclusion screen time affects a child’s speech and language development and cognitive skills such as executive functioning. Also causes behavioral problems, affects their ability to sustain attention, regulate emotions, process information and parents reported mood swings problems too.
