Sorry parents, all that time on your phone may be bad for your kids' health and development

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-05-06 01:00

Australia; NSW

Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash

Parents who use technology, such as phones and tablets, around their kids may be having a negative impact on their children's health and development, according to Australian research, although the study found the effect was small. The researchers pooled together data from 21 studies involving close to 15,000 people and found that young kids of parents who used technology around them more frequently had poorer cognition and psychosocial outcomes, and higher levels of screen time, although the sizes of the impacts were classified as very small to small.

News release

From: JAMA

Parental Technology Use in a Child’s Presence and Health and Development in the Early Years

About The Study: Parents’ use of technology in their child’s presence was negatively associated with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes and screen time among young children, although the effect sizes were small. Further research focusing on potential impacts on physical activity, sleep, and motor skills is needed. Understanding these associations is crucial for informing research and guidelines aimed at minimizing the potential negative effects of this phenomenon on early childhood development.

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Research JAMA, Web page Please link to the article in online versions of your report

Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Wollongong

Funder: Mr Toledo-Vargas is supported by the Chilean National Scholarship Program for Graduate Studies-ANID.Ms Maddren was supported by the 2022 University Postgraduate Award Scholarship through the University of Wollongong, Australia. Dr Okely is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant (GNT1176858).

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