14 DAY TRIAL // A new study carried out by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) brought evidence that preschool-age children spend too much time in front of a screen, with 66% of them surpassing the recommended amount.
The AAP's recommendations are that parents limit their children's screen time (TV, DVDs, computers and video games) to 2 hours a day, for preschool-age kids.
Dr. Pooja Tandon and colleagues from the Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, surveyed almost 9,000 preschool-age kids, part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-b).
The ECLS-b included 10,000 children born in 2001, from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and interviewed parents and childcare providers, to gather information about every child's daily screen time.
Overall, children spent 4 hours in front of a screen every weekday, with 3.6 hours spent at home.
Previous studies have proved that kids who spend many hours in front of the TV tend to develop speech delays, become rather aggressive and obese, but not many US states have strict regulations concerning screen time in licensed childcare facilities.
The researchers found out that children in home-based childcare watched television or videos, at home and at childcare, for 5.6 hours a day – that's 87% longer that the recommended 2 hours.
The results in center-based childcare were better, with only 3.2 hours of screen time every day and for kids not going to childcare, the average screen time was of 4.4 hours a day.
Also, kids within the Head Start program (a program for the economically disadvantaged children) spent 4.2 hours a day in front of a screen, but very little time of exposure took place at the childcare center.
Dr. Tandon explained that “only 2% of the 4.2 hours occurred while the children were attending Head Start, with the rest of the exposure happening at home.”
She added that most “children under the age of 5 years in the United States spend almost 40 hours a week with caregivers other than their parents, and it's important to understand what kind of screen time exposure children are getting with these other caregivers.”
Parents can play a very important role in regulating their children's screen time, by making sure that “all of their child's caregivers are aware of the AAP's advice regarding screen time.”
This study will be published in The Journal of Pediatrics.