Remember when your mother said that watching too much TV would rot your brain? She might have been right. Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital studied a group of 47 children and determined that increasing screen time correlated adversely with brain anatomy and cognitive skills. MRIs of the children with the most screen time demonstrated decreased brain myelination. Expressive language skills for these children were also impaired relative to those exposed to less screen time. Although this was a small study, the results should raise some eyebrows regarding the negative effects of screen time on early child development…and why it’s important to listen to your mother! Remember, less is more when it comes to screen exposure in children.
More information about the study can be found by clicking the link below:
Dr. Allison Beitel's Pedi Blog 