Study reveals babies are missing learning milestones due to pandemic
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier breaks down the new study that suggests infants born before and after the peak pandemic months had sharp differences in learning and communication.
Babies born right before and during the coronavirus pandemic have missed key milestones in their development because of the COVID pandemic and the lockdowns that were implemented as a result, a new study has revealed.
The study, posted this past week in the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, indicated that babies born between March and May 2020 struggled to communicate at one year of age, compared to babies born between 2008 and 2011, well before the pandemic.
Said Dr. Nicole Saphier on Saturday morning, speaking on "Fox & Friends Weekend" about the study's results, "It is interesting — first of all, children always have developmental milestones, especially [during] that 0-12 months of age" period.
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She added, "Some of it's intrinsic — it naturally comes as they get older — but a lot of it is extrinsic, meaning they need to be stimulated to have some of these developmental growths."
The babies' ability to "say a meaningful word by 12 months of age was decreased," as the new study indicated, she said.
During the COVID lockdowns, many babies did not have the chance to see other children or people beyond their immediate families. A new study indicates that they have missed developmental milestones as a result of the coronavirus restrictions. (iStock)
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC — "they lied," said Dr. Saphier, "when they said that children don't need to see their caregivers' faces and that it was OK for them to be physically distancing."
She added straightforwardly, "That was false."
"If caregivers' faces are covered, the [babies] aren't going to be able to decipher those words."
Dr. Saphier, a Fox News medical contributor, also said, "Children need to be able to interact with other human beings — that's how they learn words," she also said.
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"If their caregivers' faces are covered, they're not going to be able to decipher those words."
Amid the pandemic, young children were far less socialized than usual. They weren't leaving their homes and weren't exposed to new things. Now, a new study has revealed the specific ways young children were harmed by this. (iStock)
Plus, indicated Dr. Saphier, the young children weren't going out as much.
They weren't on playgrounds or in other situations where they could even see other children or other people.
And even if they didn't interact with other children directly, they weren't able to even observe them from a distance.
"Pandemic-associated social isolation appears to have impacted [the] social communication skills in babies born during the pandemic compared with a historical cohort."
They were far less socialized than before the pandemic. They weren't leaving their homes, they weren't exposed to new things — so their "natural curiosity's not there anymore," she said.
The pandemic "was really detrimental to their health," she said.
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She also referenced the mental health crises among adults that emerged due to and during the pandemic.
The new study found that babies lagged behind in saying a first word, in pointing and in waving goodbye — likely due to the isolation from others that they experienced during their earliest months of life.
"Children need to be able to interact with other human beings — that's how they learn words," said Dr. Nicole Saphier on "Fox and Friends Weekend." (iStock)
The study was based on the results of a questionnaire from 309 parents of babies during the pandemic.
Parents were asked about the different tasks their children could perform on their first birthday. Those results were then compared to a longitudinal study that looked into the same skills between 2008 and 2021.
There is hope that children who suffered from the COVID-19 lockdowns will rebound as well in the future.
"Pandemic-associated social isolation appears to have impacted [the] social communication skills in babies born during the pandemic compared with a historical cohort," the study said.
"Babies are resilient and inquisitive by nature, and it is very likely that with societal re-emergence and increase in social circles that their social communication skills will improve. However, this cohort and others will need to be followed up to school age to ensure that this is the case."
Dr. Saphier also noted that children are resilient.
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While it may take years for some people to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, there is hope that children who suffered from the COVID-19 lockdowns will rebound as well in the future.
Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting to this article. To learn more, watch the video at the top of this article — or click here to access it.
