While children today have access to exciting new toys in the of touchscreens and tablets, doctors warn that early use may cause long-term developmental damage, CBS Baltimore reports.
Many doctors and therapists believe that seemingly fun and educational touchscreen tools could be detrimental to a child's early physical development, and the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that children under the age of two should not use the devices at all.
"If they are always on the iPad and not actually doing those paper pencil activities that they should still be doing, those muscles are going to remain weaker," occupational therapist Lindsay Marzoli of Learning and Therapy Corner told CBS Baltimore's WJZ.
A new survey reveals that the number of children using touchscreens has doubled over the past two years, with 40 percent of children under two and around 75 percent of kids under age eight using them during play.
However, as the technology is so new, doctors have difficulty predicting how much and what kind of damage can be done, which has raised a number of pediatric red flags.
"Unlimited use, three-four hours of iPad use on their own - where the parents aren't involved - seems to me that you are flirting with developmental danger," Dr. Timothy Doran, a pediatrician at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, told WJZ, adding that he understands why touchscreens are so enticing for young children.
"They tap and something happens. So they tap and wow! Something happens there."
While tablet and touchscreen games for kids look fun, Marzoli says that what she and other therapists are seeing "is a lot of children coming in with some motor delays [and] some decreased muscle strength in areas."
Therapists advise children not to use touchscreen apps for more than 15 minutes at a time.
