Thumbsucking increases risk of speech impediments in children
Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by admin in Health
For long people believed that thumbsucking could give comfort to babies and they weren’t refrained. However, according to a new study by US and Chile researchers thumbsucking could actually increase the risk of speech disorder in small children.
The study team from Corporacion de Rehabilitacion Club De Leones Cruz del Sur in collaboration with the University of Washington Multidisciplinary International Research Training Program, have studied and determined the correlation between sucking behavior and speech disorders in kid aged between 3 and 5. According to the lead scientist Clarita Barbosa, they have studied the effects of sucking behavior in about 128 pre-school goers of Patagonia, Chile.
The data had been taken from respective parents on the kids’ feeding and sucking habits and an evaluation on individual child’s speech had been done later.
Their findings were published in BMC Pediatrics Journal and say that deferring use of bottles until 9 months of age actually lowered risk of developing speech disorders in the child at the later age. Their study also revealed that children who had serious addiction to thumbsucking or using pacifier for over 3 years of age were at 3 times more prone to developing speech disorders.
