Handheld screen usage ‘linked to speech delays in young children’

Extended use of handheld screens among young children could result in speech delays, according to a new study.

The research was conducted among 894 children aged between six months and two years, with parents reporting that 20 percent of the children had daily average handheld device use of 28 minutes by the age of 18 months.

It was found that the more handheld screen time parents reported, the more likely the child was to have delays in expressive speech. Each 30-minute increase in handheld screen time was linked to a 49 percent increased risk of expressive speech delay.

There was no apparent link between handheld screen time and other forms of communication delays, such as social interactions, body language or gestures, but the findings were enough to support recommendations that the use of screen media be discouraged in children younger than 18 months.

Study leader Dr Catherine Birken, a staff paediatrician and scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said: "While new paediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common."

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