Screen time and developmental health: results from an early childhood study in Canada
Kerai S, Almas A, Guhn M, Forer B, Oberle E
BMC public health · 43 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cohort study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- University or hospital
- Cordula and Gunter Paetzold fellowship by University of British Columbia
- Government
- Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Grants
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (F18‐04482)
Based on 3 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2022-02-15 · BMC Public Health · vol. 22 · issue 1 · p. 310
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 96 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 41.1× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 49 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Child Development and Digital Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Early Childhood Education and Development
- Keywords
- screen time, early childhood, developmental health, preschool children, developmental vulnerability, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, communication skills, household income, screen time limits, Early Development Instrument, kindergarten entry, British Columbia, data linkage, teacher reports, parent report, health behavior
- MeSH
- humans, child development, schools, adolescent, child, child, preschool, british columbia, female, male, social skills, screen time
5 authors
From CA
- Salima Mansoor Kerai · correspondingUniversity of British Columbia
- Alisa N. AlmasUniversity of British Columbia
- Martin GuhnUniversity of British Columbia
- Barry ForerUniversity of British Columbia
- Eva OberleUniversity of British Columbia
Abstract
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.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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