According to a recent study by experts at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, daily reading has boosted language development in infants 12 months of age and younger. The results of the study, based on well-established research on early language development in toddler 12 months and older, showed that infants who were read to daily, starting at two weeks of age and continuing until nine months of age, showed improved language scores. The results were published in December in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, the organization’s official peer-reviewed publication. (Also read: Parenting tips to protect and promote growth in babies )
During the randomized study, parents/guardians were given a set of 20 children’s books specially selected to support early language development and interaction with print media. Registered families agree to read at least one book per day and have their infants tested for expressive and receptive language at their child’s well-being visits.
“One book a day is an easy target for new families to try. To see that there is a measurable improvement in speaking and understanding by one year of age is very exciting,” said Adam M. Franks, MD, professor of family and community health. at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author.
In addition to Franks, doctors Callie Seaman, MD, and William Rollyson, MD, and researcher Todd Davies, Ph.D., collaborated with Emily K. Franks, a speech-language pathologist, to article co-author.
“While our team was excited about our findings, the real winners were the children and families involved in this area who benefited from a bonding experience as they benefited from a bonding experience,” says Franks. experience this co-reading through participating in the project.
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