O-mama - Opinionated Moms

New research from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention shows that 1 in 5 teenagers suffers from some type of hearing loss.  This statistic is up 31% from the mid-90’s, pointing to a concerning trend that may be attributed to headphones.  Furthermore, an Australian study of kids with mild to moderate hearing loss found that using an iPod type portable music device was linked to a 70% increase risk of hearing loss. This was particularly pronounced for kids who listened above the recommended exposure levels of 90 minutes/day at 80% volume.

Hearing loss can harm a child’s school performance, language development and social interactions.  Furthermore, because hearing loss is cumulative, researchers are concerned that longitudinally these children may experience significant hearing problems as early as 40 years old.

MOMism: “Listen up!”  Turn that music down a notch!  Just think about the sound overload that our kids are bombarded with each day- music, TV, video games, cell phones, etc.  We want our KID-Os to be able to hear the important lessons that we have to share with them...so, we literally need them to unplug. 

This health trend is concerning; particularly considering the undeniable increase in hearing loss  (31%) since the advent of the iPod generation. Technology is not going away, so we need to figure out how to guard ourselves, and our kids, from the risks that are associated with it. If we want our kids to tune in to the important stuff, we need to unplug them from tuning out...so, MAMAs, how do you do it?