Researchers from Ohio State University said screen time was not harmful to preschoolers' academic skills.
The new study of children from minority and low-income families indicates that the amount of time in front of the TV, smartphones and tablets was "not related to children's gains in language, literacy and math skills."
Ohio State said minority and low-income families were chosen for the study because data indicates these children have twice the amount of screen time as their White and high-income peers.
The researchers noted that some preschoolers with exceptionally high screen usage had reduced social and behavioral skills, but this was not among a majority of the children.
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"There’s been a lot of societal concern about the supposed harmful effects of screen time for young children, and it has really scared parents," said Rebecca Dore, lead author of the study. "These results suggest that we should stop demonizing screen media use and find better ways to support families and the education and development of children living in poverty."
The study included 179 families from the Columbus, Ohio, area. Families were asked to document their children's time watching TV or using a tablet or smartphone. The children then had their language, literacy, math, social and behavioral skills assessed twice at their preschools.
Children in the study averaged two hours a day of screen time. Researchers said some youngsters who had over an hour of nighttime screen time tended to have poorer social skills. One hypothesis was these children may have experienced less or poorer sleep.
But the results should reassure parents of young children that screen time is not going to hold their children back academically, the researchers noted.
"Lower-income and minority households often face a lot of obstacles that make it more difficult to limit screen time," Dore said. "These results can help reassure parents that it is not uniformly and overwhelmingly negative."
Although the research may be reassuring to some parents,the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children have limited screen time. They say higher amounts of screen time can lead to sleep problems, lower grades, weight problems and social problems.
The AAP recommends that children ages 2-5 have no more than an hour a day of screen time.
