Children’s brains are stunted by screen overload

LETTING children spend more than two hours a day on their phones could damage their brain power, a study has found.

Those who used electronic devices or watched TV the most had about a 5 per cent lower cognitive function than others aged between eight and 11.

The research, involving more than 4,500 children in the US, found that only one in 20 met daily guidelines of nine to 11 hours of sleep, one hour of physical activity and limited screen-time.

After examining their lifestyles, the researchers gave the youngsters a test to assess their language abilities, thinking skills, attention, memory and processing speed.

The more health guidelines the child met, the better they performed on the cognition test, the findings in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal showed.

Only half of the children met the sleep recommendation, while 63 per cent spent more than two hours watching TV or on devices. Children spent an average of 3.6 hours a day on recreational screen time.

Study leader Dr Jeremy Walsh, of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Canada, said: ‘More than two hours of recreational screen time in children was associated with poorer cognitive development.’

Limited screen time and improved sleep were associated with the strongest links to improved cognition.

Researchers believe screen time fails to stimulate the brain in the same way as books. It can lead to poorer quality sleep, which can harm a child’s development.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Eduardo Esteban Bustamante, from the University of Illinois, said: ‘Each minute spent on screens necessarily displaces a minute from sleep or cognitively challenging activities.’

‘Poorer cognitive development’