A recent study conducted by experts from the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, reveals a significant increase in mental health risks for kindergarten children exposed to electronic screens for more than an hour a day. The study, involving nearly 16,000 kindergarten children from Shanghai over three consecutive years, underscores that the risk escalates as the duration of screen exposure increases, irrespective of the content viewed.
The research, published on the JAMA Pediatrics website, found that children watching entertainment and non-child-directed programs face greater mental health risks compared to those engaged in educational programs. This information challenges the common belief that the content viewed plays a pivotal role in determining the impact of screen time on mental health.
World Health Organization guidelines recommend that children under 2 years avoid screen exposure, while those aged between 2 and 5 should spend no more than an hour a day on average in front of screens. However, the study highlights that this recommendation is frequently disregarded, with children’s exposure to electronic screens becoming a norm at an increasingly early age.
Previous studies by the same research group indicated that 24% of children had screen exposure before reaching 1 year old, and 76% began regular screen exposure before the age of 2. The prevalence of excessive screen exposure persists even among 3-year-olds, with 78.6% of them exceeding daily screen time guidelines.
Jiang Fan, one of the lead researchers, emphasizes that excessive screen exposure during infancy and early childhood can have lasting adverse effects on cognitive ability, psychological well-being, and behavioral development.
The study investigates whether the associations between excessive screen time and mental health risks differ based on the content viewed. It reveals that educational and entertainment video programs constitute the majority of content for children in this age group. As children grow, their social media use is expected to rise, posing concerns about its potential impact on real-life interactions and communication.
The research team is extending their exploration by using magnetic resonance imaging to understand the effects of increased early screen exposure on children’s brain structure and related developmental functions.
Experts caution parents and guardians, urging limited screen use for children under 2 and emphasizing the importance of accompanying and communicating with children aged 2 to 5 during screen time to mitigate potential risks to their mental health and sociability.
