Background: There is a marked use of technology by children in our societies, particularly during the last 2decades, which may be associated with limitation of their milestones developments including speech.Objectives: To determine the association between screen exposure and speech development delay among toddlers and preschoolers, to clarify the correlation linking the visioning of the screen and the input - data - of the child and his(her) mother, and to identify the impact of screen withdrawal on the possible enhancement of speech.Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study enrolled children (n=237) who had a history of delay in speech or complete loss of the ability to speak as a chief complaint. The age ranged from 12-60 months categorized into two groups: toddlers and preschoolers. All cases had programmed medical visits to the private clinics of psychiatry in Nineveh Province, Iraq. Data were obtained from interview questionnaire reports including; digital device type, first exposure age, spent time, and child-maternal parameters. Follow-up for 6months was done beyond the departure of those media.Results: This study involved 47 (19.8%) toddlers, and 190 (80.2%) preschoolers with an inclination toward males. Children with speech postponement were spotted in around 225 (94.9%), while the others had complete loss of the ability to speak. In both sets, a considerable association between speech delay and screen viewing was shown, impressively those who commenced screen exposure at less than twenty-four months of age and consumed ≥4hr per day for screens visioning. Six -months after quitting these devices, there is speech improvement was recognized in 36.7% of cases.Conclusions: Positive associations were noticed between the first exposure age and high frequency of screen spent time and speech delays in children, especially toddlers. This work recommends an instantaneous parent's and researchers' consciousness, besides that from health consultants, on the acceptable usage of screen's visioning time in consonance with children to support healthy development in digital life.

College of Medicine Ninevah University Mosul Iraq

College of Medicine University of Mosul Mosul Iraq

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