Abstract
AbstractOrben (2021) proposed a ‘Digital Diet’ approach to thinking about children's consumption of digital media. Here, we consider the Digital Diet with a focus on young children under 5. As well as discussing how Type and Amount apply to this age group, we argue that Balance needs to be considered differently for young children, and their families, compared to older children and adolescents. Considering the developmental needs of preschool children, we suggest that Balance must include not only a balance of activities within the digital world, but beyond it. The Digital Diet should be part of a wider healthy lifestyle, involving a range of activities and, crucially, social interaction. We also suggest an additional dietary factor: Timing of digital media use. Supporting children to form healthy Digital Diet habits early in life, may enable them to maintain a healthy digital lifestyle themselves as they continue to grow.
Highlights
We read Orben's (2021) suggestion of a ‘Digital Diet’ approach to children's and adolescents' digital media use with interest, and welcome this much more nuanced approach to considering guidelines on media use
As a group of researchers, our work focuses on infants and young children under 5, and we have been thinking about the applicability of the Digital Diet to this specific age group
We are in complete agreement with this point, but we think that we are not seeing the whole picture if we study digital media in isolation from the rest of children's lives
Summary
A balanced Digital Diet for under 5s: a commentary on Orben (2021) Bidgood, A, Taylor, G, Kolak, J, Bent, EM and Hickman, N Article This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/62508/ 2022. USIR is a digital collection of the research output of the University of Salford. Full text material held in the repository is made freely available online and can be read, downloaded and copied for non-commercial private study or research purposes. Please check the manuscript for any further copyright restrictions. Funding information Economic and Social Research Council, Grant/ Award Number: ES/R004129/1
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