{"id":12434,"date":"2025-10-08T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=12434"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:42:14","slug":"how-too-much-screen-time-can-affect-a-childs-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/how-too-much-screen-time-can-affect-a-childs-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How Too Much Screen Time Can Affect a Child\u2019s Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In today\u2019s digital society, screen time has become an integral part of a child\u2019s life. However, a child\u2019s heavy reliance on screen time has raised serious public health concerns because it is believed that too much screen time\u00a0might harm their cognitive, linguistic, social-emotional growth, and overall physical health.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics in 2023, found that screen time may be associated with delayed development in young children. These findings were based on parent reports of screen time use at one year old and development skills at two and four years old from a group of nearly 8,000 young children.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to data, using a validated screen tool, one-year olds who were exposed to more than four hours of screen time per day showed delays in communication and problem solving at ages two and four. Additionally, more screen time for one-year olds was associated with developmental delays in fine motor, personal, and social skills at age two.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This research supports several previous studies that have shown a correlation between the amount of screen time among young children and the presence of developmental delays, particularly in communication and problem-solving skills. A landmark National Institutes of Health (NIH) study that began in 2018, found that children who spent more than two hours a day on screen-time activities scored lower on language and thinking tests, and some children with more than seven hours a day of screen time, experienced thinning of the brain\u2019s cortex, the area of the brain related to critical thinking and reasoning.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Too much screen time can be linked to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n