– According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, children under two years old should not be allowed to use screens at all, while this kind of activity should be limited to less than an hour a day between ages two and four. On the other hand, parents and children are using digital devices much more often than ever before. Researchers from the Alberta Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD), who are conducting a study on this matter, have revealed that screen time has no significant positive effect on young kids, and that it can even impair their cognitive and language development.

– Some previous studies have shown that both reading and physical activity have beneficial consequences on children’s cognitive development. Dr. Valerie Carson, an ABCD researcher, explained that an important part of early brain development depends on human interaction: “We know children learn best through interaction; interacting with parents, interacting with caregivers. That’s typically what happens when you read a story with a child,” she said. It’s worth to add – as other scientists have discovered – that doing basic math with your kids can have the same kind of benefits.

Image: Child on computer (Wikimedia Commons)

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