Chandigarh, April 28 -- Toddlers exposed to more than an hour of daily screen time are more likely to show poor communication skills and speech delays, a study by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has found. The cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 140 healthy children, aged 18 to 24 months, at a tertiary care paediatric OPD at PGI's Advanced Paediatric Centre. The research, titled 'Association of screen media with developmental outcomes of children 18 to 24 months of age: an observational study," was initially published as a thesis by Dr Aditi Jhamb in May 2025. It is currently under consideration for publication in the Indian Journal of Paediatrics, with Dr Bhavneet Bharti, Dr Amarpreet Kaur, and Dr Prabhjot Malhi as co-authors. Though multiple such studies have been carried out internationally in the past, this study provides region-specific evidence. According to the Indian Academy of Paediatrics screen-time guidelines, children below the age of two should not be exposed to any type of screen, except for occasional video calls with relatives. For children between the ages of two and five, screen time should be limited to no more than an hour a day, and even less is preferable. For older children and adolescents, screen time should be balanced with other essential activities that support overall development, including at least an hour of physical activity, adequate sleep (8-9 hours for adolescents), and sufficient time for schoolwork, meals, hobbies, and family interaction. However, in today's digital age, children are being exposed to screens at an early age. The PGIMER study revealed that, on an average, children had their first exposure to screens at around 17.5 months, with 68% of children being exposed before the age of 18 months. Screen time was also found to vary throughout the week. It was found that 28.6% of children were in front of screens for more than an hour on weekdays, and this figure rose to 36% on weekends. The study also established that children who spent less than an hour in front of screens on weekdays showed better communication skills than those who spent more than an hour. Early screen exposure (before 18 months) was independently associated with nearly eight-fold higher chances of abnormal personal-social development and more than twice the odds of abnormal gross motor development. Dr Bhavneet Bharti, head of the social paediatrics unit, explained that passive viewing - when a child watches screens without parental interaction - is more harmful than co-viewing, where parents engage with the child and help interpretcontent. Dr Bharti added that a child's early years are formative. "This is when parents need to have a 'serve-and-return interaction' with them. A child's brain functions better when parents are responsive and take care to engage with the child. Parental interactions create a cognitive stimulative environment, something that screens can't match." "A child's communication and social skills depend on how involved the parents are. A positive back and forth interaction is very important at this stage," she added....