A study from the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that masking children failed to show any “real world effectiveness.”
“Real-world effectiveness of child mask mandates against SARS-CoV-2 transmission or infection has not been demonstrated with high-quality evidence,” according to the study.
The researchers conducted a systematic review of numerous studies “to evaluate the evidence for effectiveness of child mask mandates in reducing transmission or disease severity in COVID-19.”
Children subjected to mask-wearing may face adverse speech development, the authors noted.
“Seeing mouth movements and facial gestures accelerate word recognition and speech comprehension, the integration of facial information is important for speech perception, and recognition of facial expressions is critical for children’s abilities to communicate and understand and show emotions,” the authors wrote.
“Mask wearing may also cause breathing difficulties, headaches, dermatitis, general discomfort and pain.”
The researchers compared mask mandates in U.S. schools, where most children were required to wear a mask, to countries that did not require students to wear a face mask, such as Sweden.
“In Sweden, where schools remained open and masks were not required, only 15 of the nearly 2 million children were hospitalised and none died during the spring of 2020; also, the infection rate among teachers was similar to that of other professions,” the study said, adding, “In Norway, where masks in schools have not been recommended, in-school transmission was <1% among children and< 2% in child-adult contacts during August–November 2020.”
The authors concluded by saying, “In this systematic review, we fail to find any evidence of benefit from masking children, to either protect themselves or those around them, from COVID-19.”
“Recommending child masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is unsupported by current scientific data and inconsistent with accepted ethical norms that aim to provide additional protection from harm for vulnerable populations,” they add.
