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Too long to look at
Friends with children at home must pay attention: don't let your children keep looking at the screen! Strictly control the time spent watching the screen.
Text version
The winter vacation has begun, and recently there has been an epidemic in many areas, staying at home to face energetic children, parents sometimes want a little quiet time of their own, so they have opened up the right to use mobile phones, pads and other electronic devices for children...
Many friends may think that showing children animations and playing games is a good way to save children "quiet" and "honest", but this is really not a good choice.
The following information is only popular science and should not be regarded as a diagnosis and treatment recommendation, and cannot replace the doctor's individualized judgment on a specific patient.
01 Why limit the amount of time your child spends watching screens?
Kids and teens look at screens for too long!
The amount of time children and teens spend watching screens is increasing
Foreign data show that the current average screen time of children (excluding the use of electronic devices related to school learning) is 5 hours / day, and adolescents are 8 hours / day.
A 2021 study of 10,359 children and adolescents in eight European countries (including Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Cyprus, etc.) also found that screen time increased with age, from 2.2 hours/day at age 2 to 4.3 hours/day at age 16. [4]
Image from: References[4]
Increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and attention deficits
Fat fat
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized that long-term exposure to digital media increases the risk of obesity in children and recommends that children and adolescents should limit recreational screen time.
According to the World Health Organization, the number of obese people worldwide has almost tripled since 1974. This is closely related to the lack of physical activity.
The data shows that about 23% of adults and 80% of teenagers do not have enough physical activity on a daily basis, and excessive screen time means that children and adolescents' exercise time is transferred to screen time.
Thank you for the synthesis
The 2021 study, based on data from children and adolescents from 8 European countries, confirmed that screen time was positively correlated with the risk of metabolic syndrome. Children and adolescents with screen time above average had a 30 percent increased risk of metabolic syndrome, and boys had a higher risk, even reaching 62 percent.
Metabolic syndrome is a group of syndromes including central obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and hypertension, and is the common pathological basis and early stage of many major noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. [5]
In addition, of the 10,359 children and adolescents, 28.7% were obese, 17.4% had elevated blood pressure, 15.6% were insulin resistant, 13.5% were dyslipidemia, and 5.5% were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
Attention is lacking
In fact, passively accepting rich picture and sound effects may not be a good thing for children's brain development, or active reading, storytelling, singing and puzzles are more important for children's development.
A $300 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health looked at empirical events, including substance abuse, concussions, and screen time, affecting brain development.
It was found that screen addiction changes the brain and has a certain impact on sleep, homework, and so on.
Ultimately, however, the physical level of change data is not very convincing, and the study mainly tracked changes after 9- to 10-year-olds enter puberty, and younger children have less data.
There have been many studies on the impact of social networks and games on the mental health of young people in the past, but there is also a certain conflict in the results.
Perhaps the clearest thing at the moment is that with more than 3 hours of screen time per day, the risk of attention deficit increases.
02 What should parents do?
Recommendations of the World Health Organization
On April 24, 2019, the World Health Organization issued guidelines on screen time for children under 5 years of age. In simple terms:
No more than one hour per day for those over 2 years old, not recommended at all for those under 2 years old.
With more than 3 hours of screen time per day, the risk of attention deficit increases.
In addition to recommending reducing the time spent looking at screens, the time spent on the stroller or seat should also be appropriately reduced, and the quality of sleep should also be paid attention to, and more time should be spent on daily play.
Experts from the World Health Organization say that increasing physical activity, reducing sedentary time, and ensuring the quality of children's sleep are good for children's physical and mental health, while also improving happiness and helping to prevent childhood obesity and many related diseases in the future.
The American Academy of Pediatrics holds a similar view
The recommendations of the World Health Organization and the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics are relatively close.
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a recommendation in 2016 that children under 18 months of age should not spend time on screens other than video chat. Children aged 2-5 can only watch for one hour a day.
Moreover, the parents of young children should strictly screen and show their children educational programs, and accompany their children to watch them together, so that they can understand the specific content.
03 How to do it?
The WHO team of experts not only developed guidelines, but also gave specific implementation recommendations for different age groups.
In short, it is necessary to pay special attention to the four aspects of activity time, limited time, screen time, and sleep time. Shift your sedentary time to everyday non-screen games and replace long periods of sedentary staying with games with more physical activity!
Babies under one year of age
Belly time
First of all, you should still move in a variety of ways, such as playing on the floor, and at least 30 minutes of waking time every day to take the prone position, which is called "stomach time".
Limited time
Infants should be restricted for no more than 1 hour, which includes time on strollers, high chairs, and tied to the guardian's back.
Screen time
Scheduling screen time is not recommended. While sitting, consider having a guardian and the child together to tell stories and see things.
Sleep time
In terms of sleep, children 0-3 months old should have 14-17 hours of sleep per day.
Children between the ages of 4 and 11 months should have 12-16 hours of good sleep per day, including naps.
Children from one to two years old
Active time
Such a large child should have more physical activity, generally requiring at least 180 minutes of moderate to high-intensity physical activity every day, distributed throughout the day, the more the better.
You should not spend more than an hour on a stroller, tied to a guardian, or sitting in a high chair. In short, the time spent sitting should be limited.
Children aged 1 are not recommended to sit still and watch TV, play computer games, etc.!
Children over the age of 2 should not sit and watch screens for more than 1 hour a day, the less the better. Encourage the guardian to read to her and tell stories.
Sleep should be at least 11-14 hours a day, including nap time, but also pay attention to the time to fall asleep and wake up should also be as regular as possible.
Three- or four-year-olds
Such a child should also be guaranteed at least 180 minutes of activity per day, of which 60 minutes should be moderate or even intense intensity, distributed throughout the day, and the more physical activity the better.
The time spent looking at the screen should not exceed 1 hour per day, the less the better. When you are sedentary, you can look at things with your guardian and tell stories.
In addition, there should be 10-13 hours of good quality sleep per day, including naps, and the time to fall asleep and wake up should be regular enough.
Principles for parents
Trees stand on the example
Parents themselves should also set a good example and make their lives healthier.
Cherish the time and light
To cherish the time spent with your children, you can wait a little longer by surfing social networks and replying to messages.
Firmly refuse
When you notice that your child has some bad habits, you should be firm, even if she is crying and throwing tantrums.
04 My experience
Speaking of which, I may be a person who uses screen time a lot, today I just looked at it, last week my phone screen time reached 13 hours... (The first two weeks are 14 hours)
If you go back to my childhood, I started to participate in computer competitions when I was 5 years old, and I loved to play games since I was a child, always pestering my dad and "deciphering" my dad's codebook, so that my dad finally had to set a password on the computer motherboard...
There are gains and losses
Let's start by saying "lost"
In retrospect, I didn't like to exercise since I was a child, I'm afraid it's very much related to playing computers, and my attention is also very easy to distract, and may also be closely related to long-term immersion in online games, I have always thought that the design of online games is as addictive as possible, I don't think children have enough self-control to quit online games.
Say "Yes" again
I think the benefits of the Internet and electronics are very large.
Although playing games takes up a lot of Time online, I have studied and summarized from it, and the guides I wrote in middle school often appear on the homepage of the largest game websites in China (which encouraged me to write articles for everyone on the Internet). Later, I even studied programming myself in order to do scripts, and also laid the foundation for me to build a website independently.
My attention span is flawed, but at the same time I have a relatively high level of execution, enthusiasm and quick response ability, which may be considered an advantage in this era, right?
As a parent, my approach
It is precisely because of my own experience, so in terms of mentality, I do not regard the use of screens as a flood beast, I even feel that in the case of the principle of the above precautions, it is good for children to learn to use electronic devices.
When Gu Damei was 2 years old, she could already press the mobile phone password, open the video client, and choose to browse the record to watch cartoons... A lot of the food and things she knows now are related to the cartoons she watches.
My current approach is to give Gu Damei as much choice as possible, such as taking her as much outdoor activities as possible when I have time, taking her to meet a lot of new things, instead of holding the screen.
Secondly, I will seriously choose a program for her.
However, I would like to hear everyone's recommendation here
Before looking at the screen, first discuss with her how long to watch, for example, if she says two episodes, then set a mobile phone countdown, the alarm clock rings and will no longer show her, and immediately take her away (but the day before yesterday she also cried on the ground after not letting her see).
Then I'll use a smart speaker or the like to let her play the story herself and listen to it, reducing screen time.
In addition, I will pay careful attention to choose a better quality and a larger electronic screen. I've bought 5 tablets in the last 4 years and I'm currently giving her an iPad air (though I may be getting a new one this spring). And ensure that the indoor light is sufficient, but there is no obvious reflection on the screen, so as to minimize eye strain.
Finally, due to the actual situation, children often have to stay at home, so the toys at home are also more important...
Do you have any experience? Welcome to share in the message area ah~
Resources
[1] https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more
[2] WHO.Physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep guidelines for children under 5 years of age.WHO.http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311664.CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
[3] http://time.com/5577349/world-health-organization-screen-time-guidelines-kids/
[4] Sina, E., Buck, C., Veidebaum, T. et al. Media use trajectories and risk of metabolic syndrome in European children and adolescents: the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 18, 134 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01186-9
Liang Li, Fu Junfen, Du Junbao. Exploration and significance of the definition of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents in China[J]. Chin J Pediatrics, 2012, 50(6):4.