Title

Digital screen time and speech-language delay in children: A cross-sectional study

Authors

Priyasha Tripathi^1,*, Deepak K Uikey¹ & Priyanka Verma²

Affiliation

¹Department of pediatrics, Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt medical College, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India; ²Department of ENT, Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt medical College Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Priyasha Tripathi - E-mail: drpriyasha21@gmail.com

Deepak K Uikey - E-mail: drkumardeepak0@gmail.com

Priyanka Verma - E-mail: dr.priyankaverma20@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received November 15, 2025; Revised December 15, 2025; Accepted December 15, 2025, Published December 15, 2025

Abstract

Digital device use in early childhood has raised concerns regarding its impact on speech and language development. Hence, this cross-sectional study of 2000 children aged 6 months to 5 years examined the association between screen time and isolated speech delay. Overall, 60% showed speech delay, with the highest prevalence in toddlers (70%). Excessive screen time, poor-quality content and lack of parental supervision were significantly associated with speech delay across all age groups (p < 0.05). Thus, we show the need for regulated screen exposure, parental involvement and early intervention to support healthy language development.

Keywords

Digital screen time, speech delay, language development, children, parental supervision

Citation

Tripathi et al. Bioinformation 21(12): 4956-4961 (2025)

Edited by

Hiroj Bagde

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.