Digital Smarts - Screen Time May be Tied To Infant and Toddler Speech Delays

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Mobile devices are so common these days it is not unusual to own more than one, and it can be extremely tempting to hand one of them off to a squirmy infant or toddler to help amuse them. According to a new Canadian study though, children ages 6 months to 2 years whose parents reported increased use of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and electronic games were more likely to have expressive speech delays. In fact, each 30-minute increase in handheld screen time was tied to 49% higher odds of developing speech delays. On the positive side, the findings showed that handheld-device use wasn't associated with other communication delays such as social interaction, gestures or body language.