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“Our study shows that when screen time is used in excess, it can
delay children’s achievement of critical developmental milestones.”
Families were asked to report on the number of
hours their children spent in front of screen-based
devices. time guidelines with families, but to also help devise
media plans to ensure that parents and children are
engaging in healthy media habits,” Dr. Madigan says.
“We were surprised by a few findings,” says Dr.
Madigan. “One was that, on average, the children in
our study were viewing screens two to three hours
per day or about 20 to 25 per cent of their waking
hours.” “We hope that parents can provide mentorship
around media use and consider themselves ‘media
mentors’ of sorts. One of the best approaches is to
make a family device plan, which begins with a
conversation around media use in the family.
“Include kids in the conversation and start early. It
is far easier to cultivate healthy habits from early
life, than to reverse unhealthy habits – though that’s
possible too.” OP
The study revealed that preschoolers who get
too much screen time on video games, internet-
connected devices and television screens show
delays and deficits in learning by the time they
begin school.
“Many children are exceeding the recommended
screen time guidelines put out by the American
Association of Pediatrics,” says Dr. Madigan. “Our
study shows that when screen time is used in excess,
it can delay children’s achievement of critical
developmental milestones.”
While the study did not examine vision-related
issues specifically, it did show an association
between excessive screen time and negative
physical, behavioral and cognitive outcomes for the
children tested.
Those who had excessive screen time were failing
to meet developmental milestones in language and
communication, problem-solving and fine and gross
motor skills.
The children who were monitored spent, on average,
2.4, 3.6 and 1.6 hours of screen time per day at two,
three and five years of age, respectively.
“It is important for health care providers, including
eye care professionals, to not only discuss screen
Optical Prism | July 2019 39