Are you constantly checking your phone for messages during dinner? A new study finds that mothers’ use of cellphones and other devices during meals was tied with 20 percent fewer verbal and 39 percent fewer nonverbal interactions with their children.
“This study documents what we clearly see to be true — that is, that everyone is connected to an electronic interface way too much and ignoring real-time human relations,” said Dr. Ron Marino, associate chair of pediatrics at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.
“Children must have the emotional physical and verbal presence of a loving caretaker,” he added. “When a mother is distracted by electronic media, the opportunities to develop language and social cognition are diminished or lost.”
Adapted from an article in MedlinePlus – Health Information from the National Library of Medicine