Kids' Screen Time Linked to Speech Delay, Study Says

You may want to be careful about how much time your child spends playing with technology.

Children who used devices like smartphones and tablets for longer periods of time faced a higher risk of speech delay, according to a new study.

"It's the first time that we've sort of shone a light on this potential issue, but I think the results need to be tempered (because) it's really a first look," Dr. Catherine Birken, a senior investigator on the study and a pediatrician and scientist at the Toronto-based Hospital for Sick Children told CNN. The study, which included approximately 900 children between the ages of 6 months and 2 years, will be presented Saturday in San Francisco at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting.

For the study, parents shared with researchers how many minutes their 18-month-old children were using screens each day, while researchers in turn analyzed their language development.

One-fifth of these children used screens an average of 28 minutes per day, and for each 30-minute screen time increase, there was a 49 percent higher risk of "expressive speech delay," meaning the use of both sounds and words.

As HealthDay points out, the study did not find a cause-and-effect association, and further research is necessary.

"You need trials. You need good evidence, at least longitudinal studies, but this, at least, this finding is identifying an association and it does support the current [American Academy of Pediatrics] recommendation," Birken told CNN. For children under 18 months, it recommends no screens at all – save for family video chats.