The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) recommends that children should not watch television or go online for at least an hour before bedtime.
It advises that families should negotiate screen time limits with children based on their developmental age and individual needs, the ways in which screens are used and the degree to which technology displaces other activities. When screen time gets in the way of socialising, exercise and sleep, for instance, evidence suggests there is a risk to child wellbeing.
The guide, entitled The health impacts of screen time: A guide for clinicians and parents, includes a series of questions to help families make decisions about screen time use. These include: Is screen time in your household controlled? Does screen use interfere with what your family want to do? Does screen use interfere with sleep?
The RCPCH quizzed 109 young people aged between 11 and 24 from across the UK about their screen use. In a typical day they spent 2.5 hours on a computer, laptop or tablet, three hours on their phone and two hours watching television.
Eighty-eight per cent said screen time had a negative impact on their sleep, 35 per cent said it had a negative effect on their mood and mental health, and 18 per cent said it had a negative impact on their school work and family time.
“We suggest that age-appropriate boundaries are established, negotiated by parent and child and that everyone understands,” said Dr Max Davie, officer for health promotion at the RCPCH.
“When these boundaries are not respected, consequences need to be put in place. It is also important that adults in the family reflect on their own level of screen time in order to have a positive influence on younger members.”
The health impacts of screen time: A guide for clinicians and parents, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, January 2019: http://bit.ly/2FArV5U