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Screen time and developmental health: results from an early childhood study in Canada
Salima Kerai1, Alisa Almas2, Martin Guhn2
1School of Population and Public Health, the Human Early Learning Partnership, The University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, BC, V6T 1Z3, Vancouver, Canada. skerai@mail.ubc.ca.
Insights
Exceeding one hour of daily screen time in preschool children is linked to negative developmental outcomes across all assessed domains. Limiting screen exposure is crucial for healthy early childhood development.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Extended screen time is associated with adverse developmental outcomes in children.
- Research on screen time's impact in early childhood is limited compared to older children.
- This study investigates screen time and developmental health in preschool-aged children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between daily screen time and developmental health in preschool-aged children.
- To identify specific developmental domains affected by screen time in early childhood.
- To provide evidence-based recommendations for screen time limits in young children.
Main Methods:
- A data linkage study involving 2983 preschool children in British Columbia, Canada.
- Parental reports on screen time and health behaviors linked to teacher reports on developmental health.
- Developmental health assessed across five domains using the Early Development Instrument.
Main Results:
- Children exceeding one hour of daily screen time showed increased vulnerability in physical, social, emotional, language/cognitive, and communication domains.
- Significant associations were found between higher screen time and poorer outcomes in social competence, language/cognition, and communication skills.
- No significant interaction effect was observed between family income and screen time on developmental outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Daily screen time over one hour is negatively associated with overall developmental health in preschool children.
- Limiting screen-based activities is recommended for young children to support healthy development.
- Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking screen time to developmental vulnerabilities.
Background:
Research has shown that longer hours of screen time are negatively associated with children's healthy development. Whereas most research has focused on school-age children, less is known about this association in early childhood. To fill this gap, we examined the association between screen time and developmental health in preschool-aged children.
Methods:
This study draws from a data linkage on children (N = 2983; Mean age = 5.2, SD = 0.3 years, 51% male) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, who entered Kindergarten in public elementary schools in 2019. Parent reports on children's screen time, health behaviors, demographics, and family income collected upon kindergarten entry (09/2019), were linked to teacher reports on children's developmental health, collected halfway through the school year (02/2020). Screen time was assessed with the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. Developmental vulnerability versus developmental health in five domains (physical, social, emotional, language and cognition, and communication skills) was measured with the Early Development Instrument.
Results:
Logistic regression analyses using generalized estimating equation showed that children with more than one hour of daily screen time were more likely to be vulnerable in all five developmental health domains: physical health and wellbeing (odds ratio [OR] =1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 - 2.0; p=0.058), social competence (OR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.16 - 2.2; p=0.004), emotional maturity (OR=1.29; 95% CI, 0.96 - 1.73; p=0.097), language and cognitive development (OR=1.81; 95% CI, 1.19 - 2.74; p=0.006) and communication skills (OR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.1 - 2.34; p=0.015) compared to children reporting up to one hour of screen time/day. An interaction effect between income and screen time on developmental health outcomes was non-significant. Results were adjusted for child demographics, family income, and other health behaviors.
Conclusions:
Daily screen time that exceeds the recommended one-hour limit for young children, as suggested by the Canadian 24-h Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (Tremblay et al. BMC Public Health. 17:874, 2017; Tremblay J Physical Activity Health. 17:92-5, 2020) is negatively associated with developmental health outcomes in early childhood. Screen-based activities should thus be limited for young children. Future research needs to examine the underlying mechanisms through which screen time is linked to developmental vulnerabilities.
