Children’s screen time should be drastically reduced

Limiting screen time is critical to promoting children’s physical health, social skills, and overall development. And athese benefits can manifest in just a few days.

A new study has shown that reducing screen time to three hours a week can rapidly improve children’s mental well-being and behaviour. According to the study by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark and his team, the mental health benefits of limiting children’s screen time will be noticeable in just two weeks.

Children’s screen time should be drastically reduced, experts say

The findings were based on the assessment of 181 participants aged four to 17 from 89 families. Half of the participants were asked to limit their free screen time to a maximum of three hours per week for two weeks, while the rest of the participants were asked to continue their usual screen habits.

It is important to note that restricted screen time did not encompass essential uses such as schoolwork or homework, but specifically targeted recreational screen activities.

After the trial period, the children in the intervention group showed a marked improvement in their behavior and emotional well-being. Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), researchers observed a reduction in behavioral challenges equivalent to moving from the “borderline” category to the “normal” category within two weeks.

Significant improvements were seen in emotional problems and peer difficulties, as well as prosocial behavior, showing that reducing screen time can help children manage emotions and improve social interactions.

“This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial found that a short-term reduction in leisure-time media use within families positively affected child and adolescent psychological symptoms, particularly by attenuating internalizing behavior problems and improving prosocial behavior. More research is needed to confirm whether these effects are sustainable in the long term,” the researchers wrote in the study published in the journal Jama Network.

The study did not examine the possible explanation behind the positive impact of limiting screen time, but the researchers believe it could be due to the participants having more time for social interactions.