Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 27 (Xinhua) - A new study from Japan suggests that children who use electronic screens for more than one hour a day at the age of one are associated with delayed development in communication, fine motor skills, problem-solving, and personal and social skills at the age of two. Researchers from institutions such as Tohoku University in Japan recently reported in the Journal of Pediatrics of the American Medical Association that they recruited 7097 pairs of mothers and children from 50 obstetric clinics and hospitals in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures in Japan from July 2013 to March 2017. Children were divided into four groups based on their daily electronic screen usage time. When these children reached the ages of 2 and 4, researchers analyzed the correlation between the time they spent on electronic screens at 1 year old and their five developmental indicators at 2 and 4 years old. These indicators include communication, large muscle movements, fine motor movements, problem-solving, and personal and social skills. The research results found that at the age of 2, children whose mothers reported 4 hours or more of electronic screen usage per day at the age of 1 had the most significant correlation between electronic screen usage time and developmental delay compared to children who reported less than 1 hour. In terms of communication skills, the former is 4.78 times more likely to have delayed development than the latter; In terms of large muscle motor skills, the former is 1.46 times higher than the latter; In terms of fine motor skills, it is 1.74 times; In terms of problem-solving skills, 2.67 times; In terms of personal and social skills, it is 2.1 times. Researchers say that by the age of 4, the correlation between electronic screen usage time and developmental delay is only reflected in communication and problem-solving, but the likelihood of these two indicators showing developmental delay is decreasing. Specifically, children whose mothers reported using electronic screens for more than 4 hours a day at the age of 1 were 2.68 times more likely to have delayed development of communication skills at the age of 4, and 1.91 times more likely to have delayed development of problem-solving skills compared to children who reported using electronic screens for less than 1 hour. The limitation of this study is that the use time of electronic screens does not distinguish between educational and other purposes, nor does it consider the positive impact of electronic screen use time. Researchers say that further research will be conducted in the future on the impact of electronic screen usage time on children's development.