Parents pay more attention to their mobile devices than to their children during mealtimes, at least according to a new study from Boston Medical Center researchers.
Researchers studied as small group of adults as they interacted with their young while eating at a fast food restaurant. Nearly half of the adults that had mobile devices, including cellphones or tablets, "nearly continuously," paid more attention to the device than to the child eating.
"If we're getting in the habit of always taking the devices out- a lull or a daily routine that's starting to be a bit boring- we can be missing quality interaction time with our kids," Dr. Jenny Radesky, the study's lead author, told Reuters.
Radesky and her colleagues observed 55 caregivers that were eating with one or more young child at several Boston fast-food restaurants.
"Forty caregivers used devices during their meal," the study authors wrote.
"Absorption was conceptualized as the extent to which primary engagement was with the device, rather than the child" and "child response to caregiver use," the study authors wrote.
Some of the kids tried to have fun by themselves, or misbehaved and tried to get the caregiver's attention. The caregiver would reprimand the child, then return to the mobile device.
"Some caregivers weren't able to handle it and they lost their cool," Radesky told Reuters.
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
The goal was to find out how a caregiver's usage of a mobile device affects his or her relationship with the child, which has never been studied before, the researchers said.
Mobile device usage is "a ubiquitous part of American life," researchers wrote. By the end of this year alone, there will be more mobile devices than people on Earth, according to a mobile data forecast from Cisco.
The potential danger lies in the loss of contact between caregiver and child. Radesky and her team wrote that a child's emotions, cognitive development and language skills grow with face-to-face interaction, Reuters reported.
Radesky said the study was not meant to discourage caregivers from using devices.
"As a mom what I take away from this study is- like any media behavior- that maybe this calls for a little bit of balance and how can I start to change some of my behaviors at home," Radesky told Reuters.
