How much tech is OK for kids?

In today’s media-saturated world, nearly every parent has handed a kid a smartphone or a tablet for learning or play.

And nearly every parent has wondered if it’s OK. New guidelines released last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggest that media use is nearly inevitable, but it’s up to parents to closely monitor their children’s digital diets from the start. Researchers say too much media or the wrong type of content may affect kids’ health and development and interfere with relationships with family and the larger world.

For babies and toddlers, kids younger than 2, video-chatting with grandma is fine, but that’s about it, said Dr Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children’s. Other digital media should be avoided, especially before 18 months, and after that they should contain only high-quality content experienced with a parent, not alone.

For kids ages 2 to 5, media should be limited to one hour a day – down from the two hours included in previous recommendations. Again, media should focus on high-quality programming – the authors mention Sesame Street – and the experiences should be shared by parents and kids.

That’s because in children older than 3, digital media may help teach kids new concepts, but in younger children the brain isn’t developed enough to transfer the two-dimensional view of the screen to the real world, research has shown.

While they’re at it, parents should avoid using smartphones or other devices as the main way to distract or calm small children, Christakis noted. ‘‘Children need to learn to self-regulate their emotions,’’ he said. With older kids, those ages 6 to 18, parents need to be even more proactive, said Dr Megan Moreno, the lead author of the guidelines for older kids. There are no hard-and-fast limits on hours spent engaged with phones, tablets, computers and video games.

Instead, parents and other caregivers should develop a family plan that regards digital-media use as one component of a healthy life.

Parents need to work out consistent limits to ensure that time spent with digital media doesn’t disrupt adequate sleep, physical exercise, family communication and other healthy behaviours.

In particular, the guidelines recommend enforcing media-free family times during meals and for an hour each night before bedtime. Devices should be banned from bedrooms, where 10 years of research show they can interfere with healthy sleep patterns in kids, Moreno said.

In 2013, three-quarters of kids ages newborn to 8 had access to a mobile device, according to a national survey of parents.

Too much media use has been linked not only to sleep problems but also to obesity. TNS