US study shows too much screen time damages health of toddlers

NEW research has found that spending hours on smartphones and ipads could be damaging the health of children as young as two.

The US study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine, found toddlers who used screens frequently were twice as likely to lose their temper.

It also claims that 9% of children aged 11 to 13 who spent an hour a day on screens were not curious in learning new things, a figure that rose to 22.6% for those whose screen time was seven hours a day.

Authors Professor Jean Twenge, of San Diego State University, and Professor Keith Campbell, of the University of Georgia found that children aged 14 to 17 are more at risk for such adverse effects, but noticed correlations in younger children and toddlers, whose brains are still developing.

They said: ‘Half of mental health problems develop by adolescence. Thus, there is an acute need to identify factors linked to mental health issues that are amenable to intervention in this population, as most antecedents are difficult or impossible to influence.’

They are urging parents and teachers to reduce the time children spend online, playing video or watching television in a bid to combat this. Prof. Twenge, who has written extensively about the issues smartphone usage poses for children, advises implementing a screen time limit of two hours.

The study includes data on more than 40,000 children aged two to 17 in the US, provided by parents for a nationwide health survey in 2016. Earlier this year, Prof. Twenge suggested the child suicide rate in the US has soared since smartphones arrived.