Uso de pantallas en niños pequeños y preocupación parental / Screen use among young children and parental concer

Introducción. El uso excesivo de tecnología en niños pequeños es motivo de preocupación en la práctica pediátrica.Objetivo. Evaluar el uso de pantallas en niños < 4 años y su relación con la presencia de preocupación parental por el desarrollo psicomotor en áreas motora, del lenguaje, cognitiva y personal social. Población y métodos. Encuesta realizada a padres y/o madres de niños ≥ 18 meses y < 4 años, controlados en consultorio, durante febrero-mayo de 2018. Estudio descriptivo transversal.Resultados. Se realizaron 150 encuestas. Uso combinado de dispositivos en el 100 %: televisión, el 98 %; smartphones, el 80 %; tabletas, el 52,7 %; computadoras, el 24 %. Promedio de uso: 2,25 h/día en todas las edades (desvío estándar: 1,2). Uso y calidad: juegos, el 60 % (no didácticos, un 23 %); videos, el 88 % (no didácticos, un 20 %). Preocupación parental sobre el desarrollo: el 82 % no poseía; el 8,7 %, sobre el lenguaje; el 9,3 %, sobre falta de atención; las dos últimas coincidieron con mayor exposición: 2,92 h/día (p = 0,0024). Opinión parental sobre uso y efectos en el desarrollo: el 52 %, beneficioso; el 12 %, no influía; el 25,3 %, perjudicial, y el 10,7 %, perjudicial por uso excesivo; las dos últimas coincidieron con menor exposición: 1,8 horas/día (p = 0,0023).Conclusiones.El 100 % de los niños usa dispositivos en forma combinada. La preocupación parental por el desarrollo psicomotor se presenta cuando la exposición está fuera de las recomendaciones vigentes por edades.

Introduction. An excessive technology use among young children is a cause for concern in pediatric practice.Objective. To assess screen use among children < 4 years old and its relation to parental concern about psychomotor development regarding motor, language, cognitive, and personal-social skills.Population and methods. Survey administered to mothers and/or fathers of children aged ≥ 18 months and < 4 years seen at the outpatient office between February and May 2018. Descriptive, cross-sectional study.Results. A total of 150 surveys were completed. Combined device use in 100 %: TV, 98 %; smartphones, 80 %; tablets, 52.7 %; computers, 24 %. Average use: 2.25 h/day across all ages (standard deviation: 1.2). Use and quality: games, 60 % (non-educational, 23 %); videos, 88 % (non-educational, 20 %). Parental concern about development: 82 % had no concerns; 8.7 % was concerned about language; 9.3 %, about attention deficit; the latter two were consistent with a longerexposure time: 2.92 h/day (p = 0.0024). Parental opinion about use and effects on development:52 %, beneficial; 12 %, no effect; 25.3 %, harmful;and 10.7 %, harmful due to excessive use; the latter two were consistent with a shorter exposure time: 1.8 h/day (p = 0.0023).Conclusions. The 100 % of children use devices in combination. Parental concern about psychomotor development is expressed when exposure exceeds the current recommendations for age

Screen use among young children and parental concern. / Uso de pantallas en niños pequeños y preocupación parental.

INTRODUCTION: An excessive technology use among young children is a cause for concern in pediatric practice. OBJECTIVE: To assess screen use among children < 4 years old and its relation to parental concern about psychomotor development regarding motor, language, cognitive, and personal-social skills. POPULATION AND METHODS: Survey administered to mothers and/or fathers of children aged ≥ 18 months and < 4 years seen at the outpatient office between February and May 2018. Descriptive, cross-sectional study. RESULTS: A total of 150 surveys were completed. Combined device use in 100 %: TV, 98 %; smartphones, 80 %; tablets, 52.7 %; computers, 24 %. Average use: 2.25 h/day across all ages (standard deviation: 1.2). Use and quality: games, 60 % (non-educational, 23 %); videos, 88 % (non-educational, 20 %). Parental concern about development: 82 % had no concerns; 8.7 % was concerned about language; 9.3 %, about attention deficit; the latter two were consistent with a longer exposure time: 2.92 h/day (p = 0.0024). Parental opinion about use and effects on development: 52 %, beneficial; 12 %, no effect; 25.3 %, harmful; and 10.7 %, harmful due to excessive use; the latter two were consistent with a shorter exposure time: 1.8 h/day (p = 0.0023). CONCLUSION: The 100 % of children use devices in combination. Parental concern about psychomotor development is expressed when exposure exceeds the current recommendations for age.

Introducción. El uso excesivo de tecnología en niños pequeños es motivo de preocupación en la práctica pediátrica. Objetivo. Evaluar el uso de pantallas en niños < 4 años y su relación con la presencia de preocupación parental por el desarrollo psicomotor en áreas motora, del lenguaje, cognitiva y personal social. Población y métodos. Encuesta realizada a padres y/o madres de niños ≥ 18 meses y < 4 años, controlados en consultorio, durante febreromayo de 2018. Estudio descriptivo transversal. Resultados. Se realizaron 150 encuestas. Uso combinado de dispositivos en el 100 %: televisión, el 98 %; smartphones, el 80 %; tabletas, el 52,7 %; computadoras, el 24 %. Promedio de uso: 2,25 h/día en todas las edades (desvío estándar: 1,2). Uso y calidad: juegos, el 60 % (no didácticos, un 23 %); videos, el 88 % (no didácticos, un 20 %). Preocupación parental sobre el desarrollo: el 82 % no poseía; el 8,7 %, sobre el lenguaje; el 9,3 %, sobre falta de atención; las dos últimas coincidieron con mayor exposición: 2,92 h/ día (p = 0,0024). Opinión parental sobre uso y efectos en el desarrollo: el 52 %, beneficioso; el 12 %, no influía; el 25,3 %, perjudicial, y el 10,7 %, perjudicial por uso excesivo; las dos últimas coincidieron con menor exposición: 1,8 horas/ día (p = 0,0023). Conclusiones. El 100 % de los niños usa dispositivos en forma combinada. La preocupación parental por el desarrollo psicomotor se presenta cuando la exposición está fuera de las recomendaciones vigentes por edades.

Mind the gap: A model for the EU recycling target applied to the Spanish regions.

The recycling targets for municipal solid waste included in the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD) are a relevant driver for sustainable waste management in the EU. According to the WFD, Member States should reach 50% recycling rate by 2020 while 65% has been recently approved for 2035. The aims of this paper are (1) to formalise the WFD definition of recycling rate, by converting it into a model that permits a systematic comparison across systems; and (2) to test the model by using a case study, in order to explore the analytical insights derived from the results, focused on the gap between the current management situation and the EU targets. To this end, a model is presented for the case of Spain at regional level (in Spain, the regional scale is relevant because the Autonomous Communities have to comply with the EU recycling targets according to the Spanish National Waste Management Plan). Results show that most Spanish regions will have to undertake profound changes regarding waste management in order to comply with the WFD. These changes are related to increasing separate collection (of food and garden waste, particularly), improving waste treatment efficiency and limiting the disposal of unsorted waste. The model informs policy-makers about the gap between the current performance of a given system (country, region, municipality) and the WFD target and identifies trade-offs between management strategies. It also contributes to the debate on the on-going revision of the WFD, particularly on the relevance of having a consistent definition of "municipal solid waste" accompanied by waste-stream specific definitions of "recycling".

Analyzing Beach Recreationists' Preferences for the Reduction of Jellyfish Blooms: Economic Results from a Stated-Choice Experiment in Catalonia, Spain.

Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents' mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.

Regional material flow accounting and environmental pressures: the Spanish case.

This paper explores potential contributions of regional material flow accounting to the characterization of environmental pressures. With this aim, patterns of material extraction, trade, consumption, and productivity for the Spanish regions were studied within the 1996-2010 period. The main methodological variation as compared to whole-country based approaches is the inclusion of interregional trade, which can be separately assessed from the international exchanges. Each region was additionally profiled regarding its commercial exchanges with the rest of the regions and the rest of the world and the related environmental pressures. Given its magnitude, interregional trade is a significant source of environmental pressure. Most of the exchanges occur across regions and different extractive and trading patterns also arise at this scale. These differences are particularly great for construction minerals, which in Spain represent the largest share of extracted and consumed materials but do not cover long distances, so their impact is visible mainly at the regional level. During the housing bubble, economic growth did not improve material productivity.