Use of mobile media devices such as smartphones and tablets is nearly ubiquitous in urban, low-income minority children less than 4 years old, according to Dr. Hilda Kabali and her associates at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia.
Of the 350 children aged 6 months to 4 years who were included in the survey, 97% had used a mobile device at least once. By age 2 years, more children had a mobile device than a television, and by age 4 years, three-quarters of children had their own mobile device, while only half of 4-year-olds had a TV. Forty-four percent of children over 1 year used a mobile device daily to play games, watch videos, or use apps; this rose to 77% in 2-year-olds and 81% in 4-year-olds.
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On average, children spent an average of 49 minutes a day using a mobile device, split between 27 minutes of watching TV or video on the device and 22 minutes of using apps. Mobile-device usage was greater than the 45 minutes spent watching regular television or the 15 minutes spent playing video games on a console. Youtube was the most popular app in children under 3 years of age, after which Netflix became the most popular app.
Just over 28% of 2-year-olds could use a mobile device on their own, which increased to 43% in 4-year-olds. In addition, about half of 4-year-olds also could effectively use multiple mobile devices at the same time.
“Access to, familiarity with, and skill using mobile devices are a first step in achieving digital literacy. However, socialization with parental engagement and modeling are critical for the development of healthy and productive ways to integrate digital technology into family life. Future studies are needed to guide the development of recommendations for both health care providers and families on the use of mobile media by young children,” the investigators concluded.
Find the full study in Pediatrics (2015 Nov 2. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-2151).