Media use and attitudes towards screens in children aged 36-72 months; a cross-sectional, descriptive study

Introduction: The age at which children are introduced to media devices is becoming increasingly earlier. Studies regarding the media habits of young children have gained importance. The aim of the study was to describe the screen media habits (age of introduction media, time spend with screen, popular choices) of preschool children and to explore their relationship with household characteristics. Population and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study; the parents of children aged 36-72 months who attended childcare centers in Kayseri, a central Anatolian city in Türkiye, completed a questionnaire on media habits of families and children. Results: There were 858 questionaires included. The proportion of children using screen media more than 2 h/day was 28%; 36% of children were introduced to media devices before the age of two. The most frequently used media tool was television (95%) and the program watched was cartoons for TV (86.7%). Children of highly educated parents had shorter TV, computer and smartphone screen time (p = 0.012, p = 0.007, p <0.01 for mother and p = 0.049, p = 0.032, p = 0.04 for father respectively). Introducing books in the first 6 months was associated with shorter daily screen time (p = 0.011, p = 0.009, p = 0.002 for TV, computer and smartphone ,respectively). Parent's time spent on TV was positively correlated with children's time spent on TV (p <0.05, r = 0.354). Conclusion: Parents' education levels, parents' screen time and introducing book in early age was related to children's media habits. Comprehensive studies are needed to explain this relationship more clearly.