The Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York has released a study that found children between 0 and 3 years old who used touch-screen devices to play non-educational games experienced slower verbal development.
Non-educational games referenced in the study included Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, according to Daily Mail.
The researchers were most interested in how much parents let their children use cell phones.
"We have observed in our neonatal clinic that the number one 'toy' parents are giving their toddlers are smartphones," said Dr. Ruth Milanaik, chief investigator of the study and attending developmental and behavioral pediatrician at the Cohen Children's Medical Center. "It was striking to see that parents were substituting books and general baby toys for smartphones. Many parents did not seem to bring any other distraction for their children except the touch screen devices."
The study was carried out by pediatricians who observed 0 to 3-year-old children's use of touch-screen devices. Developmental tests were held to determine whether children received any educational benefit from the devices, Med.News reported.
Children who played non-educational games with touch-screen devices had low verbal scores on the tests.
The study also found that while most parents believed smartphones, readers and tablets provided educational benefits for their children, the researchers did not find any such benefit. Despite 60 percent of parents reporting that their children received these benefits from the touch-screen devices, there was no significant difference found in testing scores between children who used the devices and those who did not, Daily Mail reported.
97 percent of the families owned touch-screen devices, and the average year to of the child when starting to use the devices was close to 11 months, with an average use of 36 minutes per day. Different forms of touch-screen device usage were observed. Using educational applications accounted for 26 percent, watching children's "educational show" accounted for 30 percent, and playing non-educational games accounted for 14 percent.
"Technology can never replace a parent's interaction with his or her child," Milanaik said. "Just talking to your child is the best way to encourage learning."
