Pre-school children spend more than an hour and a half "in front of screens" every day

A study published in the journal BMC Public Health concludes that preschool children (up to 5 years old) spend an average of more than an hour and a half (154 minutes) a day in front of televisions and other screen devices.

The study "Social inequalities in traditional and emerging screen devices among Portuguese children: a cross-sectional study" was carried out by a team of researchers from CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC). Its main objective was to assess Portuguese children's screen time, including traditional devices (such as TVs, computers and game consoles) and mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, and to identify differences in their use according to gender, age and socio-economic background.

A total of 8430 children (aged 3-10) living in Coimbra, Lisbon and Porto were surveyed about their daily routines. Data were collected in 118 private and public schools. Participation rates were 58% (Coimbra), 67% (Lisbon) and 60% (Oporto).

According to the results of the study, screen time is higher among older children, mainly due to more time spent on electronic devices such as computers, video games and tablets: "about 201 min/day. We concluded that most children, especially boys, exceed the screen time recommendations of the World Health Organization and the American Pediatric Association, which limit screen time to 1 hour (for children up to 5 years old) or 2 hours / day (for children over 6 years old)," says Daniela Rodrigues, first author of the paper.

Although televisions are still the most used device, "the use of tablets is widespread and the time spent using them is high, even in children as young as 3 years old", the researcher points out, stressing that "screen time is always higher in children from families with a lower socioeconomic status, regardless of age, gender or type of device".

According to the FCTUC researcher, given that screen time is associated with negative effects on children's health, such as reduced time and quality of sleep, greater delay in cognitive and language development, obesity, etc., these results "show the need for greater parental control over children's access to electronic devices. This scenario is all the more worrying at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing children to spend more time at home and to use some of these devices to access distance learning".

"It is important to identify subgroups at risk and how each device is used according to age, so that appropriate interventions can be made in the future. Parents should be aware that children spend most of their time watching television, but mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular from a very early age," concludes Daniela Rodrigues.

The scientific paper can be read here.

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}