Kids as young as 1 in the US are using tablets for more than 20 minutes a day, while nearly all children under age 4 have used a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone, a new study has found.
The study of 350 children in a low-income, minority community in the US suggests that an income-based "digital divide" is shrinking.
The study found that tablets are the most popular mobile devices for children, and kids as young as 1 use them more than 20 minutes a day on average.
For the study, researchers gave a questionnaire to parents of children between 6 months and 4 years of age who visited a Philadelphia pediatric clinic in October and November of 2014.
The parents answered questions about the children's use of television, mobile devices, computers and video games.
Almost every household (97 per cent) had a TV, 83 per cent had tablets, and 77 per cent had smartphones. Just over half had video consoles (56 per cent), a computer (58 per cent), and Internet access at home (59 per cent).
The study found that by age 4, about three-quarters of youngsters had their own mobile device, and half had their own TV. All but 3 per cent had used a smartphone or tablet, the study found.
"We were not surprised to see infants and toddlers using the mobile devices; we saw that in the clinic every day," said one of the study's authors, Dr Matilde Irigoyen, chair of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.
"But we were very surprised to see how often the children used the mobile devices, how many of them owned a personal device, how many could use the device without assistance, and how many engaged in media multitasking," Irigoyen said.
More than four out of 10 children under age 1 and 77 per cent of 2-year-olds used a mobile device every day to play games, use apps or watch videos, the researchers found.
Almost half of 4-year-olds and one-quarter of 2-year-olds needed no help using a smartphone or tablet.
The parents' education and the child's gender and ethnicity did not play any role in whether or not the child owned a mobile device, 'HealthDay News' reported.
While 28 per cent of parents said they used a mobile device to get their child to go to sleep, 70 per cent did chores while their child played.
A majority reported letting their child play with a mobile device to keep them calm in public places or during errands.
The study found that children still spent more time watching TV than using any other single screen, an average 45 minutes a day. They also averaged 27 minutes a day watching videos or TV shows on mobile devices and 22 minutes using apps.
