There is no denying that scientific discoveries and innovations have changed the face of modern parenting. We now have the technology to create human embryos in a laboratory, test them for genetic diseases and freeze them for use at a later date. We know more than ever about the psychological impact our parenting choices have on our children, and many of us consciously do things differently than our own parents did to us.
Despite all this innovation and insights, children still don’t have a manual. There’s a lot of conflicting advice about how to raise a healthy, happy little person, and much remains shrouded in mystery: When does nurture trump nature? How can a parent know when to step back and when to intervene? Does technology offer a solution to the current problem or the possible cause of a new problem?
Parenting isn’t a science, but the latest research in medicine, psychology, education (and others) informs the way we parent and impacts everything from when we introduce potential food allergens to when we feed our children. allow their own social media accounts.
Here are some things science has taught us about children in 2023.
Physical activity is good for children’s psyche, but also for their bodies.
A study by the University of Eastern Finland found that year 8 and 9 students who walked or cycled to school had higher ‘school performance’ and enjoyed school more than their peers who used other forms of transport.
More frequent activity had an even greater positive impact. Students who did 4 to 6 hours of physical activity per week in their spare time, such as sports, were 50% less likely to experience burnout at school than their less active peers. They were also almost three times as likely to report high levels of ‘school enjoyment’.
More screen time for babies is associated with an increased risk of developmental delays.
A study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Pediatrics found a link between the amount of screen time babies received at age 1 and their risk of developmental delay at ages 2 and 4. Delays at ages 2 and 4 were found in both communication and problem solving.
It is important to note that the study found a correlation between screen time and developmental delays, not a causal relationship. Scientists don’t know whether screen time itself leads to such delays. For example, it is possible that infants who get more screen time get less face-to-face time with attentive caregivers, and this could contribute to delays in communication or in other domains.
Children who have a warm, loving relationship with their parents grow up to be kinder people.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge used data collected from more than 10,000 people in Britain to investigate the impact of early relationships with healthcare providers. The children were followed until age 17, and researchers found that children who had warm, loving relationships with their parents at age 3 grew up with fewer mental health problems. Additionally, these children and teens showed more “prosocial” behaviors, such as kindness, empathy, helpfulness, generosity, and volunteerism.
Screen time affects adolescent brains and can put them at risk for mood disorders.
Children who spent more time on screens at ages 9 and 10 were more likely to show anxiety symptoms at ages 11 and 12, according to a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions. Because researchers looked at brain scans of the children, they were able to identify structural changes in the brain that were linked to these symptoms. The structural changes in brain structure that scientists say patterned on those associated with alcohol use among teens suggest that the way screens affect adolescent brains is similar to that of addictive substances.
Some children are just born bad sleepers.
As millions of bleary-eyed parents know all too well, sometimes kids just won’t go to sleep no matter what you do. This study in the Journal Of Child Psychology And Psychiatry found that the genetic variations that have been linked to insomnia in adults are also correlated with insomnia in children. Children with a genetic predisposition were more likely to have trouble falling asleep or waking up more often. Parents who struggle to get their child to fall asleep or stay asleep can take comfort in the fact that genetics, rather than a lack of effort on their part, may be to blame.
Teenage girls are experiencing sexual violence in record numbers.
In February, the Centers for Disease Control released a report highlighting trends in data collected by its Youth Risk Behavior Survey over the past decade. While not all of these trends were negative, the report revealed many troubling findings, including that 14% of teenage girls said they had been forced to have sex in the past year. This was the first time in ten years that this number increased. For Native American and Alaska Native girls, and for those who identified as LGBQ+, the numbers were even higher. (Note that the survey did not offer students the option to identify as transgender.)
The report also documented an increase in the number of girls experiencing “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” and in the number who attempted suicide. Once again, LGBQ+ youth were at greater risk.
Talking to babies affects the structure of their brains.
A study published in June in the Journal of Neuroscience found a link between the amount of speech babies are exposed to and their brain structure. Scientists measured the amount of language babies were exposed to at home and used brain scans to examine the concentrations of myelin, a substance that coats nerves and facilitates connections. They found that babies who heard their parents and other adults say more words had higher concentrations of myelin in parts of their brains related to language. While parents sometimes feel a little weird having one-way conversations with babies, talking to children is how they ultimately learn to talk, and now we know that these experiences affect the physical structure of their brains.
Children’s napping patterns are related to their cognitive function.
A group of researchers from the University of East Anglia in Britain have used the closure of childcare centers during the pandemic to study the natural sleep tendencies of young children. Examining data from 463 children aged 8 months to 3 years, they found a link between napping patterns and a child’s cognitive function. Babies with smaller vocabularies and poorer cognitive skills tend to nap more often. “Our research shows that how often a child naps reflects individual cognitive needs. Some are more efficient at consolidating information during sleep, meaning they nap less often,” said lead researcher Dr. Teodora Gliga. Researchers advised parents to let children nap for as long as necessary, noting that reducing naps for children will not improve brain development.
The infant mortality rate in the US is rising.
An analysis of the 1999-2021 infant mortality data showed that the mortality rate for the 1-19 age group increased between 2019-2020 and again between 2020-2021. Dr. Steven H. Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, one of the authors of the analysis, told HuffPost that researchers believe the last such increase occurred in 1918 — the year of the Spanish flu pandemic.
COVID-19 resulted in an increase in adult mortality in those same years, but the virus cannot explain the increase in child deaths. What does?
“Suicide, murder, drug overdoses and car accidents,” Woolf said.
Among these figures are striking racial disparities. For example, boys, older children, and black children are at much greater risk of death by homicide.
Access to firearms plays a crucial role: virtually all homicides and almost half of suicides in this age group involve a firearm.
Babies can experience consciousness from the moment they are born.
Although a baby can’t tell us what it thinks or feels, and no one can remember what it was like to be a baby, we now have evidence that babies think consciously. A study published in the journal Trends In Cognitive Sciences found the same markers of consciousness previously identified in adults in the brain scans of babies. Although we may not be able to ‘read’ a baby’s thoughts, these findings suggest that babies are indeed aware of their own existence. The study authors pointed out that these findings could have clinical, ethical and even legal implications. Parents can also experience those early, tiring days and nights with their babies in a new light, knowing that their child is already developing their sense of self.