Screen addiction is a growing public health concern and even children aged under five don’t seem to be spared. Parents find it easier to keep their children engaged with a screen or device while feeding them or when they are busy with work. As a result, screen addiction is becoming common from early childhood.
This, coupled with inadequate sleep time and sedentary behaviour, is paving the way for childhood obesity and associated diseases later in life.
Recognising the need to check this, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently issued guidelines stating that children under five must spend less time watching screens or being restrained in prams and seats. It also said they should get better quality sleep and spend more time on active play.
A WHO panel of experts assessed the effects of inadequate sleep, time spent watching screens, and being restrained in chairs and prams on children. They also reviewed evidence around the benefits of increased activity.
Improving physical activity, reducing sedentary time, and ensuring quality sleep will improve the physical and mental health of children and will help prevent childhood obesity and associated diseases, the document stated.
Paediatricians in India, who endorsed the guidelines, said if healthy physical activity and good sleep habits are established early in life, it will help in shaping healthy habits through childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
“We are seeing a number of children on a daily basis who are overweight or obese. The WHO has rightly issued guidelines restricting screen time to less than an hour and [recommending] at least three hours of physical activity of any intensity,” said Anjana Hulse, paediatric endocrinologist at Apollo Hospitals, B a nnerghatta Road.
Dr. Hulse said most parents keep their children engaged with a device of some kind while feeding them. “This is a wrong practice as the child will not relish what he or she is eating. Parents should inculcate good eating habits in their children from childhood,” she said.
The Indian Academy of Paediatrics will put up the guidelines on its website for its members. Santosh T. Soans, its immediate past president, said the guidelines will also be published in Indian Paediatrics , the academy’s official journal.
Dr. Soans, who asserted that the need of the hour was to bring back outdoor play, said urbanisation and changing lifestyles of adults were affecting the lifestyles of children as well. “Replacing prolonged, restrained or sedentary screen time with more active play, while making sure young children get good quality sleep, is important. Quality sedentary time spent on interactive non-screen activities such as reading, storytelling, singing, and puzzle solving is important for child development,” he said.
The WHOrecommendations
Any kind of screen time is not recommended till the age of two; not more than an hour of it for children aged 2-5
Physical activity several times a day for one-year-olds, particularly through interactive floor-based play
Physical activity for at least three hours for those aged above one and under five
For one-year-olds, at least 30 minutes in prone position (tummy time) every day, if they are not yet mobile
They should not be restrained for more than an hour at a time (for example,. on prams/strollers, and high chairs)
Children should have 14-17 hours (0-3 months of age), 12-16 hours (4-11 months), 11-14 hours (1 to 2 years), 10-13 hours (3 to 4 years) of quality sleep, including naps
They should engage in reading and storytelling with a caregiver
