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 When caregivers were observed at playgrounds, cellphones were
involved in about 30 percent of distractions, investigators reported
in two presentations at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in
San Diego on Saturday.
"Talking to other people was the biggest distraction," Dr. Ruth
Milanaik, a senior author of one of the reports. "Cellphones were
only a fraction behind."
Milanaik directs the neonatal neurodevelopment follow-up program at
the North Shore-LIJ Cohen Children's Medical Center in Lake Success,
New York.
"It only takes one second for a child to get hurt," she told Reuters
Health. "If you’re distracted by your cellphone, answering a text or
going through your email, then your eyes are not on the children."
She said the idea for the research came from previous studies that
found parents rely on smart phones and tablets to occupy their
children.
For the new study, researchers worked in teams of two to observe 50
caregivers and their young children at seven New York playgrounds.
Each caregiver was monitored for 10 to 20 minutes. The researchers
noted the caregivers' activities every two minutes. At the end, the
researchers had 371 observations.
Overall, caregivers were distracted during 74 percent of the
two-minute observations. About a third of those times were spent
talking with other people. Thirty percent of those times were spent
talking on a phone, and the rest of the time was spent doing other
things like eating or reading.
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In a second study, some of the same researchers found that children
were more likely to engage in dangerous behavior when caregivers
were distracted.
"None of the kids in our study were hurt," Milanaik said. "So really
all of the parents were doing a fine job, but the question is can we
do a better job."
"We’re not saying no cellphones on the playground, but maybe use
your hands free so your eyes can remain on your child at all times,"
she said.
"For us, good research just proves something that you already know
and points people in the right direction," Milanaik said. "I think
people know they're distracted by their cellphones."
SOURCES: http://bit.ly/1OwTvAx
and http://bit.ly/1OwTw7w
Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, April 25, 2010.
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