Having trouble? Click here.<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhen it comes to screen time and kids, less is more.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to a recent Denmark study led by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark. It looked at the effects of reduced screen media exposure on youth mental health<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n Eighty-nine families with a total of 181 children and teens were randomly assigned to one of two groups. <\/p>\n
KIDS AND SMARTPHONES: HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? EXPERTS REVEAL IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The first group had to surrender their smartphones and tablets<\/u><\/span> for a two-week period, and limit use of other screen media \u2014 such as TV and computers \u2014 to three hours or less per week, not counting work or school. <\/p>\n The control group did not have any limitations. <\/p>\n
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Families that limited kids’ screen exposure saw improvements in the children’s mental health \u2014 particularly in how the kids managed their emotions, communicated with peers and displayed behavioral difficulties.<\/span> (Cyberguy.com)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe average ages of the children ranged from 4 to 17, averaging at 8 to 9 years old.<\/p>\n
The families filled out a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at the end of the study period that gauged the children\u2019s psychological symptoms.<\/p>\n
SCREEN TIME FOR KIDS UNDER AGE 2 IS LINKED TO SENSORY DIFFERENCES IN TODDLERHOOD, NEW STUDY FINDS<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The groups that limited kids’ screen exposure saw improvements in mental health<\/u><\/span> \u2014 particularly in how they managed their emotions and communicated with peers in helpful, considerate ways, plus a decrease in behavioral difficulties.<\/p>\n The findings were published in JAMA Network Open last month.<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital reached out to the lead researcher for comment.<\/p>\n
Risks of excess screen time for kids<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory related to youth social media use, emphasizing mental health concerns.<\/p>\n
“There is evidence that children who have excessive screen time or access to social media at young ages are more likely to be depressed or anxious<\/u><\/span>,” Dr. Joshua Stein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical director at PrairieCare in Minnesota, previously told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n\n
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In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory related to social media use among youth, emphasizing mental health concerns.<\/span> (Matt Cardy\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe expert cited a Gallup research study from 2023, which noted that teens who were on screens more than five hours a day were 60% more likely to express suicidal thoughts or self-harm. <\/p>\n
“Those children were 2.8 times more likely to have a negative body view and 30% more likely to describe \u2018a lot of sadness,\u2019” added Stein, who was not involved in the Denmark research.<\/p>\n
LIMITING SCREEN TIME IN INFANTS MAY DECREASE RISK OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, STUDY FINDS<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Access to smartphones and social media increases the risk of cyberbullying, depression, sleep-related concerns<\/u><\/span>, self-harm and body image issues, according to Stein.<\/p>\n “It can also lower self-esteem, and can socially pressure people to act outside their morals and family beliefs,” he added.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s a healthy amount of screen time for kids?<\/strong><\/h2>\nFor kids ages 2 and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends capping screen time at two hours per day. <\/p>\n
It discourages any use of media for children younger than age 2, per its website.<\/p>\n
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For kids ages 2 and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a cap of screen time at two hours per day. <\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) outlines specific guidelines for each age group on its website.<\/p>\n
For babies up to 18 months, it recommends limiting screen use to video chatting with an adult.<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\nBetween a child’s age of 18 month and 24 months, its guideline is to use screens only for educational programming<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n For kids between 2 and 5 years of age, the AACAP recommends a limit of one hour per weekday and three hours on weekends for any non-educational screen time.<\/p>\n
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“To be honest and point blank, the least amount of screen time is healthy for children,” an expert told Fox News Digital.<\/span> (Matt Cardy\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt does not specify an hourly limit for ages 6 and older, but does recommend encouraging healthy habits<\/u><\/span> and limiting screen-based activities.<\/p>\n “To be honest and point blank, the least amount of screen time is healthy for children,” Dr. Zeyad Baker, a pediatric physician with Baker Health in New Jersey, previously told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
He admitted that it gets trickier for parents to moderate use when kids need to do homework online \u2014 and he believes the quality of screen time comes into play when setting limits.<\/p>\n
For more Health articles, visit <\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/span>www.foxnews\/health<\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “I think if you are doing family screen time<\/u><\/span> on an educational level or if kids are using screen time to dig deep into valuable information and topics at a limited capacity, that is very different from watching and absorbing mindless content on the internet on a consistent basis,” Baker said.<\/p>\n\n
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An expert recommends only allowing children to have access to social media or certain television channels on the weekend and limiting screen time to academic-related content during the week.<\/span> (Cyberguy.com)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHe recommends only allowing children to have access to social media or certain television channels on the weekend and limiting screen time to academic-related content during the week.<\/p>\n
Parents should not make screen time limitations come across as punishment, the expert noted.<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “Instead, they should encourage other activities, like going outside to play,” he said. <\/p>\n
“Not only is that good for physical health<\/u><\/span>, by adding activity and increasing vitamin D levels, but it’s also great for their mental health.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Join Fox News for access to this content Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please enter a valid …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}