A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 1 in 10 children have a “developmental delay.”
The percentage of children with developmental delays between the ages of 3 to 17 rose from 5.1% in 2018 to 6.1% in 2021.
A child is considered to have a developmental delay when the “child is slow to reach one or more developmental milestones compared to their peers,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The CDC report did not explain why there is an increase in child developmental disabilities.
Some doctors, like the Director of Science and Research for Children’s Health Defense Dr. Brian Hooker, believe developmental delays are linked to “draconian lockdown measures.”
Dr. Hooker told The Defender, “Given the draconian lockdown measures, it is no wonder that more children are lagging behind in development. School closures, ineffective online learning, masking and lack of socialization place a huge burden on children, and I believe this is why we’re seeing the effects of non-optimal learning now.”
A pediatrician from Lynchburg, Virginia, similarly said, “Normal child development is influenced by peer play, which was curtailed during 2020 and 2021. Children learn to read emotions by looking at faces, and faces partially covered by masks were confusing for developing kids.”
Dr. Elizabeth Mumper continued, “Substituting screen time learning for in-person instruction has had devastating effects on children’s academic progress. Unfortunately, those in charge failed to weigh the social, emotional and developmental impact of extreme lockdown measures on family life and child development.”
Reporting from The Defender:
According to Japanese researchers at Kyoto University and the University of Tsukuba development of 3- to 5-year-old children was delayed by 4.39 months on average due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers wrote: “Variations in development were greater during the pandemic than before the pandemic regardless of age. Additionally, the quality of care at nursery centers was positively associated with development at age 3 years during the pandemic, while parental depression appeared to amplify the association between the pandemic and delayed development at age 5.”
