Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Studies: Screen Time Explodes at Babies in US, Canada


Fri 29 Nov 2019 | 12:36 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

Two recent studies warned that the use of screen time explodes between 12 months and three years in the United States, and most Canadian preschoolers between the ages of two and three are not meeting World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for appropriate use of television, computers and other screens.

In the new studies which were published in JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers showed that daily use of television, computers and mobile devices by children increased three fold from age 12 months to three years, from an average of 53 minutes at 12 months to more than 150 minutes.

CNN reported about the studies, noting that children of first-time mothers and children who were in home-based child care logged the highest amount of screen time by elementary school.

"Our results indicate that screen habits begin early," said senior author Edwina Yeung, an investigator at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

"This finding suggests that interventions to reduce screen time could have a better chance of success if introduced early," Yeung continued in a statement.

"Children were twice as likely to be in the highest screen use group if they were a first child, a twin, were in home-based care or their parents only attended high school," the study found.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there should be no baby under 18 months exposed to a screen except for face-to-face family interactions.

In addition, children between 18 months and 5 years of age should only be exposed to one hour a day, preferably with parents or caregivers who interact with them about the content on the screen.

In Canada, more than 79% of children age 2, and nearly 95% of children age 3 were exceeding the WHO guidance of no more than one hour of high-quality programming daily.

On another hand, the researchers found that a child's overuse of screens was consistently associated with the mother's excessive screen use, especially for mothers who cared for their child at home.

"That association may make it difficult for parents to limit a child's engagement with screens without additional support to devise a family use plan," the study authors said.

The researchers advised that parents should be working on reinforcing the need for sleep, physical activity, and device-free interactions to be prioritized to optimize child development," the study said.

On the other hand, the WHO recommends no screen time for babies under 1 year of age, and encourages interactive floor-based play several times a day.