SINGAPORE: Using electronic devices to distract and calm noisy, restless babies used to be a great idea, or so parents thought.
Singapore scientists recently found that children exposed to high levels of screen time before the age of two showed changes in brain development linked to slower decision-making and increased anxiety by the time they become teenagers.
However, all is not lost – for children whose parents read to them frequently from age three, the link between infant screen time and altered brain development was significantly weakened.
The new research is led by Assistant Professor Tan Ai Peng, a principal scientist at A*STAR’s Institute for Human Development and Potential (IHDP) (Translational Neurosciences). It is Singapore’s largest birth cohort study that links infant screen exposure to long-term changes in the brain and adolescent mental health.
“This research gives us a biological explanation for why limiting screen time in the first two years is crucial.
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