![Television during meals and child development: what are the consequences?](https://img.passeportsante.net/1000x526/2021-06-09/i108072-.jpeg)
It is true that spending a long time in front of the screens can prove to be harmful, in particular for the cognitive development of the child. More specifically, researchers are showing how the television on during meals can have a negative impact on language development.
The importance of social interactions in children
The time spent in front of the television, computer or tablet is too much for some children. Indeed, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Inserm, informs us that young people aged 3 to 6 are in front of screens for about 2 hours a day. However, screens can turn into real enemies for the development of the child. He has a deep need for social interactions and it is mainly thanks to language that he can put his socialization into practice. The child must interact with humans, and not just with screens. The immediate environment, siblings, parents or other children, is also very important for the child to develop his language. However, for several decades, “ screens have become essential in this environment “. Therefore, ” preschoolers spend considerable time watching them “. However, it is the interactions with other people that allow the child to acquire language. The meal can become a moment of verbal exchange between him, his parents and / or his brothers and sisters.
The television on limits interactions
However, there are many homes in which the television is always on, especially at mealtimes. To measure the impact of television on child development, scientists followed 1,562 children aged 2, 3 and 5 and a half. To carry out this study, the parents were given the task of filling out questionnaires, by giving, for example, the frequency with which the television (computer or video games) was turned on during the meal. To assess the language of 2-year-old children, parents had to fill out forms. For older children, the assignment was assigned to psychologists. It should be noted that other characteristics had to be considered, such as the social and economic situation of the family as well as those related to the child, such as the type of childcare or the activities carried out with the parents.
Less good language learning
It was thus demonstrated that “ the language level at 2 years was lower in children always exposed to television during family meals compared to children who never were “. On the other hand, at 3 and 5½ years of age, language level and verbal intelligence quotient were higher in children never exposed, compared to those exposed occasionally or often. Also, the verbal intelligence quotient was compared in children exposed to television during family meals and those who never were. There is an average difference of 3 IQ points. It is therefore not only the duration of exposure that can be problematic, but the context. Also, television entertains both children and adults.
As Jonathan Bernard, the co-author of the study, explains, “ television during meals can therefore act as a brake on the child’s verbal interactions, reducing both the quality and the quantity of exchanges between children and adults “. Television induces auditory and visual stimulation which can ” increase the difficulties for a child to extract from a background sound the phonological distinctions and syntactic characteristics specific to the language and necessary for the quality of his learning »Concluded Inserm.