Should pregnant women stay away from their cell phones?
- Scientist says that cell phone radiation might affect children.
- A new study claims that hyperactivity in children could be a result of excessive phone use during pregnancy.
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Hyperactive kids are difficult to manage but there’s one way a mom could avoid this behavioural pattern. According to fresh evidence, pregnant mothers could have a calm kid if they stay away from their cell phone during pregnancy.
Scientist Laura Birks, a doctoral student at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that kids between the ages of 5 to 7 displayed emotional and behavioural problems if their moms used their cell phone for more than an hour a day.
She said these kids were 28 percent more likely to be hyperactive in comparison to others whose moms used their cell phones lesser.
The result, based on a study conducted in 5 countries and among 800 pairs of mothers and children, proved to be interesting since there’s no link between prenatal cell phone radiation and hyperactivity.
And according to Birks, hyperactivity in children can’t be traced to cell phone use alone. There could be a number of factors including parenting style and environment, among others.
“I would say interpret these results with caution, and everything in moderation,” she told Reuters.
However, it is important to consider how cell phone radiation affects pregnant women and impacts their attitude post-natally.
Dr. Robin Hansen, paediatrician and professor at the University of California, believes that parents should curtail their phone use in front of their kids. She said that parents who deprive their kids of personal interaction manifest patterns of attention-seeking, hyperactivity behaviour in their children.
“It’s not until you cry or you throw something or make a lot of noise, that your parents shift their attention from the cellphone to you,” she added.
