Using Touchscreen Devices Hampers Verbal Development in Infants: Study

Parents may want to think twice before letting kids play Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja on their smartphones, as a new study has linked the playing of non-educational games using touchscreen devices to poorer speech in children.

The study by paediatricians from the Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York examined 0-3 years old infants who used touchscreen devices to determine if their use was of any educational benefit to infants and toddlers.

The study showed that children who played non-educational games using touchscreen devices had lower verbal scores upon testing.

The results also showed that although the majority of parents cited in the study believed their children received educational benefits by using smartphones, readers and tablets, there was no statistical difference in developmental scores in children who played educational games versus non-educational games.

"We have observed in our neonatal clinic that the number one "toy" parents are giving their toddlers are smartphones," said Ruth Milanaik, chief investigator of the study and an attending developmental and behavioural physician at the Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park.

"It was striking to see that parents were substituting books and general baby toys for smartphones. Many parents did not seem to bring any other distraction for their children except the touchscreen devices," Milanaik said.

Of the 65 families surveyed, 63 (97 percent) owned a touchscreen device. The average age of the child when starting to use a touchscreen device was about 11 months and average use was about 36 minutes daily.

The most common forms of touchscreen device usage was watching children's "educational shows" (30 percent), using educational applications (26 percent), pressing buttons on the screen aimlessly (28 percent), and playing non-educational games (14 percent).

Sixty percent of parents reported "educational benefits" of their child using a touchscreen device. The study showed there was no significant difference in testing scores between children who used touchscreen devices and children without the same exposure to touchscreen devices.

However, results indicated that children who play non-educational games (i.e., Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, etc.,) have a lower verbal score on developmental tests.