Q&A: Does screen time cause developmental delays?

What’s the deal with that new study about screen time and developmental delays? I’m seeing it all over the news. Would love to hear your take!

Me? An opinion on a screen time study? Why, I thought you’d never ask!

The study in question was published last month in JAMA Pediatrics and is titled “Screen Time at Age 1 Year and Communication and Problem-Solving Developmental Delay at 2 and 4 Years.” I’ve also seen this one all over the news (e.g., New York Times, CNN). Emily Oster wrote about it last week over at ParentData and—I think accurately—summarized this news as “panic headlines.”

So, here’s the deal. This study is part of a larger cohort study in Japan that enrolled over 20,000 pregnant women between 2013 and 2017, and then followed them (and their babies) over time.