Is Latency Lost to Screen Time?

Abstract

* Abbreviation: NSCH — : National Survey of Children’s Health Pediatricians have in the past referred to “middle childhood” as the latency phase of a child’s development, suggesting that not much occurs in a child’s physical and mental development during this period of a young person’s life.1 Now, in this issue of Pediatrics , Parasuraman et al2 highlight the “fragility” of latency. They call us to recognize new health risk behaviors in this period of development, with morbidity resulting. Middle childhood encompasses the primary school years, which are defined as 5 to 10 years of age (by the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures guidelines3) and 6 to 11 years (by the National Survey of Children’s Health [NSCH]). The NSCH is an address-based national survey that provides national and state estimates of key indicators of child health and well-being. The authors drew data from the 2016 and 2017 NSCH and share important findings in their study; some are reassuring, and some are surprising. During … Address correspondence to Joseph F. Hagan, Jr, MD, FAAP, Lakeside Pediatrics and The University of Vermont Medical Center, 128 Lakeside Ave, #115, Burlington, VT 05401. E-mail: jhagan{at}burlingtontelecom.net