WASHINGTON – One-third of all children use a smartphone or tablet before their first birthday, according to a study conducted by members of the Department of Pediatrics at the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.
The study, which was presented at the Pediatric Academic Society’s annual conference, showed a huge proliferation of digital devices used by children still too young to crawl. The study was conducted in October and November of 2014, by presenting a 20-page questionnaire to parents at a hospital pediatric unit, which serviced low-income urban, minority communities.
The study covered 370 families and looked at children ages 0-4; 49% had male children and 51% had female children. The demographics of those surveyed was 74% African-American, 14% Hispanic; and 13% of parents surveyed had less than a high-school education.
The study found that, despite the narrow scope of the survey, technology was readily available in all the households that took part: 97% of those surveyed had a TV set, 83% had tablets, 77% had smartphones and 59% had a broadband Internet connection. The study found that among children under the age of 1, 36% had touched a scroll screen, 24% had called someone, 15% used apps and 12% had played video games.
The study concluded from the data gathered that the reason parents with smaller children allowed their kids to play with electronic devices was to serve as a distraction. Of the parents surveyed, 60% said they let their child use their media device while they were running errands, 73% to keep the child busy while they were doing chores and 65% to calm the child. When asked if their child was spending at least one hour per day using mobile media, parents said 14% of 1-year-olds were, 26% of 2-year-olds and 38% of 4-year-olds. Only 30% of parents surveyed had discussed media use with their pediatrician.
The study authors concluded by writing: “A better understanding of the use of mobile media in young children and how it varies by population groups is critical to help develop educational strategies for both parents and health providers.”