Study: Moms Using Devices Talk to Kids Less

Mothers who use their smartphones and tablets at the dinner table are less likely to interact with their kids, a new study finds. Researchers videotaped 225 mother-and-child pairs at the dinner table. The children were all 6 years old. Sometimes they ate familiar foods. At other times, the children were introduced to new foods. This can be stressful for young children. On average, mothers who used mobile devices during dinner talked to their children 20% less often than mothers who did not use them. They interacted in other ways 39% less often. When introducing new foods, mothers using mobile devices talked to their children 26% less often than non-users. They had 48% fewer interactions of other types. The journal Academic Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it December 12.