Healthy Kids: Interactive media use

Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad and the unknown:

Children younger than 30 months old, learn best from real-life interactions.

Past research looked at TV and videos.

Question now:  interactive applications useful or not?

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Use of devices in young children:

Educational benefit

Distract from mundane tasks

Hinders social-emotional development

Need for development of their own internal mechanism of self-regulation

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Conclusions:

Increased TV time decreases language and social skills development

Interferes with development of empathy, social and problem solving skills

Need to explore, unstructured play and interact with peers

Hands-on activities are needed for sensorimotor and visual-motor skills

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Recommendations:

Parents use applications before allowing children to use

Parents use applications with their children, make it interactive

Make regular ‘unplugged family time’ daily

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Teen’s sleep adversely affected by media devices:

10,000 adolescents were studied

97 percent teens have at least one electronic device in their bedroom

Current recommendation:  No TV in the bedroom

Less than two hours a day of screen-time is recommendation

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Conclusions:

Less than one hour to fall asleep = < 4 hours per day screen time

                                 got 8-9 hours of sleep per night

More than one hour to fall asleep = > 4 hours of screen time

                                 got 5 hours of sleep per night

More than two hours a day of screen time interfered with sleep

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Recommendations:

Unplug and interact with family and friends.