Beware the negative effects of too much screen time for children

As a mother screams on the delivery table, her newborn suddenly pops out and cuts the umbilical cord after googling how to do it on his father's tablet. The baby then grabs the nurse's phone and Instagrams a selfie, crawls to a laptop on the floor and signs into multiple social networking sites, and uses a GPS to find his way out of the hospital.

This recent "Born for the Internet" ad campaign by mobile service provider MTS for its 3G Plus network is a bit extreme, but it's not uncommon these days to see babies and toddlers swiping away on their parents' touch screen gadgets.

Evidence from an increasing number of research studies suggests that limiting a child's screen time is the best approach. Screen time includes watching television and using the internet and other electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and video games.

Children get more sleep, do better in school, behave better and see other health benefits when parents limit content and the amount of time their children spend on the computer or in front of the TV, according to a study by Iowa State University published in March in .

At an American College of Cardiology conference in March, University of Michigan researchers presented findings from a study of more than 1,000 sixth graders from 24 middle schools in southeast Michigan. They found that children who had more screen time snacked more often and were more likely to choose less healthy snacks.

Many studies have established positive correlations between excessive TV and video game use and weight gain among children. But the effects aren't just physical - children who spend most of their time on electronic devices tend to be more insular and lacking in communication skills.