Abstract
BackgroundGlobally, children’s exposure to digital screens continues to increase and is associated with adverse effects on child health. We aimed to evaluate the association of screen exposure with child communication, gross-motor, fine-motor, problem-solving, and personal-social development scores.MethodsWe conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study with cluster sampling among children 0–60 months of age living in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Child screen time was assessed by maternal report and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations were used to define excessive screen time exposure. Child development was assessed with the Brazilian Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Generalized linear regression was used to determine the association of screen exposure with developmental outcomes. We also examined the potential non-linear relationship of screen time with development scores using spline analyses.ResultsA total of 3155 children 0–60 months of age had screen time exposure evaluated and 69% percent were identified as exposed to excessive screen time. This percentage of excess screen time increased with child age from 41.7% for children 0–12 months to 85.2% for children 49–60 months. Each additional hour of screen time was associated with lower child communication (standardized mean difference (SMD): -0.03; 95% CI: − 0.04, − 0.02), problem solving (SMD: -0.03; 95% CI: − 0.05, − 0.02) and personal-social (SMD: -0.04; 95% CI: − 0.06, − 0.03) domain scores.ConclusionsExcess screen time exposure was highly prevalent and independently associated with poorer development outcomes among children under 5 years of age in Ceará, Brazil.
Highlights
Children’s exposure to digital screens continues to increase and is associated with adverse effects on child health
Global increases in screen time for children are of major concern given child development may have long-term effects across the life course including on adult productivity [8]. and income generation [9]
The reported mean total time of child screen exposure was 2.6 ± 0.6 h per day, of which 1.5 ± 1.7 h were dedicated to watching television and 0.6 ± 1.2 h to the use of tablets and smartphones
Summary
Children’s exposure to digital screens continues to increase and is associated with adverse effects on child health. We aimed to evaluate the association of screen exposure with child communication, grossmotor, fine-motor, problem-solving, and personal-social development scores. Children’s exposure to digital screens continues to increase [1]. International pediatric societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, have stated that parents should limit child time of screen exposure. Studies have found that excessive screen time is associated with poor early cognitive and motor development outcomes in children [5, 6]. Global increases in screen time for children are of major concern given child development may have long-term effects across the life course including on adult productivity [8]. Global increases in screen time for children are of major concern given child development may have long-term effects across the life course including on adult productivity [8]. and income generation [9]
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