In children born before the 28th week of pregnancy, very high daily screen time is associated with a deficit in IQ and executive functioning. They also have more difficulty controlling their impulses and maintaining their attention.
- In children born very preterm, high daily screen time exacerbates cognitive deficits, including overall IQ, executive functioning, impulse control, and attention span.
Numerous studies have shown that high screen time, ie more than 2 hours a day, makes children sedentary and influences their neurocognitive development. In 2018 again, works published in The Lancet showed that children confronted with a television screen, smartphone or tablet every day had poorer cognitive abilities than their peers.
This is all the more true if these children are formerly very premature, that is to say born before the 28and week of pregnancy. This is shown by a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics and funded by the National Institutes of Health, US government institutions. The results show that children aged 6 and years born prematurely spending more than 2 hours a day in front of a screen were more likely to present deficits in overall IQ. They also had less ability to solve problems (executive functioning), had less control over their impulses and had a reduced attention span.
An exacerbation of cognitive deficits
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed data from a study of children born at or before 28 weeks of pregnancy. Of 414 children, 238 spent more than two hours in front of a screen per day and 266 had a television or a computer in their room.
Compared with children who spent less time in front of a screen per day, those who spent a lot of time on it had an average deficit of nearly 8 points on the percentile scores of global executive functions, about 0.8 point on the impulse control (inhibition) and more than 3 points on inattention. Children with a television or computer in their bedroom also scored lower on measures of inhibition, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
The authors conclude that these results support the need for physicians to discuss the potential effects of screen time with families of extremely premature infants.
No screen before age 2
These conclusions are also consistent World Health Organization guidelines (WHO). These recommend banishing screens from the lives of young children, especially those under 1 year old. From two to four years old, the time spent in front of the television, tablet or smartphone should not exceed one hour, knowing that “less is more”. Up to 5 years old, the child must not remain attached for more than an hour at a time (for example in a pram or pushchair, on a high chair or on the back of a carer). And when seated, the child should be stimulated through, for example, reading, singing, storytelling or educational games, not by a screen.
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