Gadgets at an early age can reduce the mental abilities of your child: what to replace them with

Allowing kids to watch tablets and TV could have a negative impact on their academic performance and emotional well-being in the future, according to a new study. CNN.

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According to a study published Jan. 30 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, scientists found that a large amount of screen time in infancy was associated with worse executive function when the child was 9 years old.

According to Harvard University's Center for Child Development, executive functional skills are mental processes that "enable us to plan, pay attention, remember instructions, and successfully juggle multiple tasks."

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According to the study, these executive functional skills are important for higher-level cognition such as emotional regulation, learning, academic achievement, and mental health. They influence our social, academic, professional success and how we take care of ourselves, says Dr. Erica Ciappini, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

“While these cognitive processes develop naturally from infancy to adulthood, they are also influenced by the experiences we have and when we have them in our development,” Ciappini said.

“The results support the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends that screen time is not recommended for children under 18 months, except for video chat,” said Dr. Joyce Harrison, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study looked at data from Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes, or GUSTO. The sample consisted of 437 children who underwent electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural pathways of cognitive functions in the brain at the age of 1 year, 18 months and 9 years.

According to the study, parents reported the time each child spent in front of a screen, and the researchers found an association between screen time in infancy and attention and executive function at age 9.

However, further research is needed to determine whether screen time has caused impairments in executive function, or whether there are other factors in the child's environment that predispose the child to both more screen time and worse executive function, as noted in the study.

What do children need

In a learning-heavy time like infancy, one of the big problems with using gadgets is that young children can't learn much by sitting in front of a screen, according to the AAP.

“There is no alternative to adult interaction, modeling and learning,” Harrison said.

According to Ciappini, children have difficulty interpreting information presented in two dimensions, such as on a screen, and have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality.

“Infants and children are also social learners and greatly benefit from constant interaction with other adults and children, which is difficult to achieve with screens,” Ciappini said.

She added that when it comes to emotional regulation, infants and young children can learn from their parents when they model self-control or help label emotions and appropriate expressions. For example, you can give a young child options for what they can do when they're angry, like taking a break or taking deep breaths instead of inappropriate behavior like hitting, as Harrison said.

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Talking about emotions can be too abstract for preschoolers, and in those cases, using color zones to talk about emotions can be helpful, says Dr. Jenny Radesky, pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at CS Mott Children's Hospital, Michigan Medicine.

Calm and content might be green, worried or agitated might be yellow, and frustrated or angry might be red. Use graphics or pictures of faces to help children match their feelings to their color zone. To reinforce this, adults can talk about their own emotions in terms of colors in front of their children, as Radesky said.

She added that parents and children can walk through the flowers together and come up with soothing remedies for different areas.

To strengthen these executive function skills, Harrison says, it's important to provide structured interactions where the child can work on problem solving to the extent that they can at their developmental level, rather than having to solve problems for them.

How to work without gadgets

However, sometimes parents just need to do laundry or attend a work meeting, and gadgets can be an effective distraction.

"For young children, it's still probably best to avoid screen time," Harrison said.

Instead, try to involve the child in household chores, as she said.

“Give your toddler clothes to fold next to you while you try to do laundry, or hold your baby in a position where you can make eye contact often while you go about your business,” Harrison said.

It's important for older preschoolers to reduce screen time so they can use it strategically, she says.

“For example, one hour of screen time can be used for when you have an important meeting ahead of you,” Harrison said.

There are media outlets that aim to speak directly to children about emotion, such as Daniel Tiger or Elmo Belly Breathing.

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And you can make screen time work better by educating your child while watching, as Chiappini said. Ask your child questions while watching, such as "How does this character feel?" and “What could they do to help their friend?”.

Parenting is a difficult and sometimes overwhelming task, Radesky says, and no parent can consistently give their child everything they want.

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