Less and less often, small children listen to the lullaby hummed by their parents for bedtime. Almost every tenth French baby falls asleep with headphones on.
The results of a survey published in late October on the Seine by the public opinion center Ipsos cites the popular science journal Sciences et Avenir.
According to the surveys, parents are increasingly putting their children to sleep using audio players. According to adults’ declarations, 9 percent. children fall asleep listening to music through headphones.
Research shows a clear tendency that increasingly younger children are using headphones – there are already 21 percent of them. under 6 years of age. Among children between the age of 7 and 12, this percentage is 74%, and among adolescents older than them – 95%. 67 percent teenagers fall asleep with headphones on while driving a car, and 69 percent. – in bed.
“We are very concerned that the lullaby is now being replaced by headphones on the baby’s head,” said French hearing care professional Jean-Louis Horvilleur, who coordinated the study, quoted by the newspaper. Dr. Jean-Michel Klein, chairman of the French trade union of ENT doctors, is of a similar opinion. He believes that in the long run it is harmful to the hearing of children in this way, as “they cannot tell if the sound level is too high”. “In this way, we will make them deaf when they are 30,” warned Dr. Klein.
Sciences et Avenir also cites negative opinions of pediatricians about the results of the research.
«It’s crazy: it’s already known that a computer screen before the age of 3 is something unreasonable, but headphones on a child’s head by the time they turn 6-8. years are just as reckless »commented Dr. François-Marie Caron, former president of the French association of paediatricians. In his opinion, listening to bedtime music can disturb a child’s sleep and, in the future, jeopardize his hearing.
Otolaryngologists sound the alarm and point out that young people tend to constantly raise the sound level in the headphones, especially when there is noise around, e.g. while driving a car or public transport. According to this study, 62 percent. parents of children under 6 hears music played by their children, even though the latter have headphones on.
Otolaryngologists warn that listening to very loud music – at 90 decibels – is as devastating to the eardrums as a tsunami to human settlements. Experts recommend that you limit the time you use headphones and take frequent breaks – taking them off for half an hour every 2 hours of listening, or for 10 minutes every 45 minutes.
The survey was conducted on a representative sample of over 1500 French people, including around 7 children and adolescents aged 19 to 500 and 6 parents of children under the age of XNUMX (PAP).