In this technology-prone era, everyone is glued to their smart devices. Starting with younger children to older people everyone is addicted to their Smartphone, computer, and tablets. Well, the time people spent in front of the screen exceeds the ideal time which is harmful to general health. According to WHO, the children less than five years old should not spend much time in front of the screen and the children under one year should avoid the screen. The world health organization issued guidance for the children about the screen time they spend daily.
The screen time for children less than five years shouldn’t be more than an hour said U.N. health agency. The guidelines of WHO is very similar to the instructions of the American Academy of Pediatrics. According to the direction, the children aged less than 18 months should avoid the screens. The parents of the children aged less than two years old should opt for programming of high quality that has educational value. On the other hand, some groups in the country believe that the guideline issued by WHO is ignoring the advantages of digital media.
The screen time guideline advised by the World Health Organization is more focused on the quantity of screen time instead of the content of the screen, said the director of Oxfords University- Andrew Przybylski. Likewise, according to the college of Pediatrics and child health, it is hard to estimate the quantity of screen time based on the data in the guideline. According to Dr. Max Davie- the health improvement officer in the college, there is no specific evidence that the screen time suggested by the World Health Organization is correct. Any harmful effect of the exceeded screen time has not been reported yet also.
Although the guideline by WHO has not provided any substantial evidence about the harmful effect of exceeded screen time for children, it points the fact that prolonged screen time can affect the lifestyle of the children. The extended screen time of the younger children can negatively affect their sleeping time that leads to many health conditions. Due to less physical activity because of the prolonged screen time leads to many chronic diseases in adults and children. People are becoming inactive by reduction of physical activity in their daily routine.
According to the U.N. agency, the children aged more than one year should involve in physical activities for at least 3 hours a day. The babies less than one year should spend at least half an hour to an hour daily on the stomachs. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, the parents of the children should be more careful about the screen time of their children. The context and the content of every screen are not the same, so it is difficult to determine the ideal screen time for the younger children. The parents of the children should watch the hours of physical activity their children involved in.