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ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – Is your toddler addicted to technology?

According to warnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics, children age two and younger should not be exposed to any electronic media.

Ned Presnall, the executive director of the Addiction Medicine Center at Clayton Behavioral, joins Fox 2 to speak about how “screen-time” from handheld devices is causing harm to your little one.

Warnings from American Academy of Pediatrics:

  • Children age 2 and younger should not be exposed to ANY electronic media because ‘a child`s brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.’
  • Older children and teenagers should spend no more than one or two hours a day with entertainment media, preferably with high-quality content, and spend more free time playing outdoors, reading, doing hobbies and ‘using their imaginations in free play.’
  • Violent video games and television can desensitize a young mind to violence.
  • Sedentary activities can be detrimental to physical health; obesity, eye strain, hand and finger pain and poor posture.
  • Schoolwork can suffer as more time is spent texting or SnapChatting. And sleep deprivation can result from those awaiting another text.
  • Children may become adept to multitasking but lack the experience to single out the more important task.