Children’s language skills thrive with less screen use

Once again, Dr. John S. Hutton is making news.


As the director of the Reading and Literacy Discovery Center at Children’s Hospital, his job is to track the things that help — and interfere with — early reading skills.


Most recently, he’s being credited with his groundbreaking research that details how both the quality and quantity of screen time affects early literacy skills.


Dr. Hutton was a part of a group of researchers who did brain scans on 47 healthy children, ages 3–5, who were all from mostly middle- to upper-middle-class, English-speaking households. Researchers used a composite score, called a ScreenQ, which is based on the best evidence we have, to date, from the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding appropriate screen time for babies and toddlers.


Findings show that preschoolers who used screens less had better language skills. To read more about the study, click here.

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