Study shows screen time in infancy can lead to behavioral problems later on

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BOSTON -- For the first time, a new study provides evidence that screen time in infancy can lead to behavioral problems in childhood.

An international team of researchers, including here at Boston Children's Hospital, followed 400 kids from one to nine years old. They asked their parents about screen time, examined their brains' electrical activity at 18 months, and collected information about their executive functioning at age nine through neuropsych testing and teacher and parent questionnaires.

They found that every hour of increased screen time in infancy was associated with decreased measures of attention and executive functioning at age nine.

They also found that babies with more screen time showed changes in brain activity associated with difficulties in attention.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that young children stay away from screens until 18 months of age and that screen time should be limited to no more than one hour a day for kids ages 2 to 5.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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