In today’s age, it’s nearly impossible to separate children from their phones. Data from the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health tracks how much time American children aged 0-17 spend using electronic screens. The answer might shock you: Around 28.4% children spend 2 hours per day, and 22.2% spend more than 4 hours in front of the screen.
Numbers like this might seem small at first, but they represent a rapidly growing trend that affects children across nearly every age group, including infants and toddlers. It shows how easy it is for a piece of electronic screen to become a significant part of your children’s early childhood, when the foundations of their lives start to take shape. And this can have dire consequences.
This article will discuss the hard-crunching topic of why you should be more worried about your children’s screen usage and how something so simple could permanently affect your children’s developmental milestones for years to come.
Slight warning before continuing: This article contains a real call-out to all parents of young children about the hidden, long-term damage of screen time for their development. Read more to learn how you can prevent your children’s early screen-time addictions.
What is considered excessive screen time usage in childhood? It all depends on your children’s age. According to the World Health Organization, screen time is not recommended for children under the age of 1 year old, and only less than an hour for children aged 1-2 years old. But in reality, children spend way more time on screen-based media than recommended.
A 2023 study of Australian infants found that at six months, infants were already exposed to an average of 1 hour and 16 minutes of screen time, with only 11.3% children meeting the recommendation of no screen time.
With the growing number of hours children spend on screens, scientists around the world are continually seeking to discover the positive or detrimental effects of this phenomenon on children’s developmental outcomes, which are further divided into cognitive, behavioral, and physical categories.
The following sections discuss the existing evidence.
Excessive screen time in early childhood can affect children’s cognitive development across many domains, including intelligence and language.
A 2022 global narrative study finds that going over the recommended hours by the World Health Organization, which is over 2 hours of screen time for children between the ages of 15 and 48 months, had a 4 times higher chance of experiencing language development delay.
And not just that; intelligence development could also be stunted by excessive screen time. Singapore’s national study finds that longer screen time for 12-month-old infants could result in a 1.55 lower IQ score and be 6.2 times more likely to have an IQ score below 70.
But what is the actual reason why excessive screen time could harm cognitive and language development? The main reason lies inside the brain, specifically in the integrity of the white matter that supports language development.
In particular, studies regarding brain white matter are usually conducted using a MRI technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which quantifies the microstructure of the white matter using parameters called fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), axial diffusivity (AD), and mean diffusivity (MD). In particular, higher FA is associated with better performance in language processing, including grammar, phonological awareness, and semantics.
A scan study with 47 healthy toddlers using the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method found that higher reported screen time is correlated with 16% lower FA. This paints a clearer picture that higher screen time leads to lower activity inside the brain, potentially contributing to language development delay, which is supposed to thrive in children’s first years of life.
Excessive screen time has significant downstream effects on a range of behavioral and emotional problems.
Behavioral scientists often use the term ‘behavioral problems’ to describe specific shortcomings in children’s behavior, such as inattention, impulsivity, and difficulty following through with routines. While ’emotional problems’ are shortcomings more closely related to how a child experiences and reacts to daily situations, such as feeling anxious, being easily irritable, and struggling to express emotions.
Multiple extensive studies have found that excessive screen time is one of the few consistent factors that appear in studies for children with behavioral and emotional problems. One of them is a global study of toddlers aged 15 – 41 months across 14 countries, which shows that for every 1-point increase in time spent watching television, toddlers score 0.16 points higher on emotional reactivity tests and 0.27 points higher on attentional problem tests.
Additionally, children with more than one hour of daily screen time were 60% more likely to show lower social competence and 29% more likely to be less emotionally mature.
In the longer term, a longitudinal study across Canada of 3,455 toddlers finds that use of more than 2 hours of screen time is 5 times more likely to exhibit externalizing behavior and 5.9 times more likely to experience problems with focusing than children with less than 30 minutes of daily screen time.
Across scientific studies, excessive screen time has been connected with various adverse outcomes for children’s behavior and emotional development. Less than 1 hour is generally the recommended time allowed for children using screen-based technology and content.
Excessive screen time could unintentionally contribute to children’s physical and lifestyle health.
Global study across 33 countries finds that only 14.3% of children aged between 3 and 4 years old met the WHO guidelines for physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration. WHO recommends that children engage in 180 minutes of physical activity daily, limit daily screen time to less than 1 hour, and sleep 10-13 hours per day. This implies that across the world, 85.7% of children do not meet one of the requirements.
Moreover, the CDC survey finds that only 61.1% children aged 12-17 years old spend 60 minutes/day being active. Crucially, this study highlights that screen time is one of the culprits, with only 54.4% of participants in the high-screen time group meeting that criterion.
Less time spent on physical activity could lead to serious health issues, one of which is obesity. A longitudinal study following pre-term children until 3 years of age has found that there is a 41% higher risk of being obese in the higher screen-time group (more than 1 hour/day).
Furthermore, screen time could disrupt children’s sleep patterns. A concerning 20% of American parents reported that their children use screens to fall asleep every night. The irony is that research from The Journal of Pediatrics finds that each hour of screen time is associated with 8 minutes less sleep each night, while children with limited screen time reported sleeping 26 minutes more.
These findings highlight a concern that screen time is unintentionally undermining children’s physical and sleep health.
Screen time can certainly harm, but it doesn’t always have to. The following section will discuss screen-time guidelines available for every age group.
There are usually two main guidelines on children’s screen time: one is published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the other, more commonly used, is published by the World Health Organization (WHO). Both emphasize the appropriate age and the total duration for which children can be allowed to interact with screen-based media.
According to AAP, the content and quality of screen time are as important as the total duration spent on it. This guideline emphasizes that parents utilize screen time by providing high-quality and educational content instead of as a distraction.
Below are the screen time recommendations by age category published by AAP:
| Ages | Types of screen-time rules |
| Less than 18 months | Limit screen time to only video chatting with adults |
| 18 – 24 months | Watching educational programming with a caregiver |
| 2 – 5 years | 1 hour/day of non-educational screen time and allow 3 hours on the weekend |
| More than 6 years | Encourage healthy habits and limit screens with boundaries. |
| Turn off all screens and media during family meals and outings. | |
| Avoid using screen time to stop tantrums. | |
| Turn off and remove screens from the bedroom around 30-60 minutes before bedtime. |
While the World Health Organization version focuses more on mapping out all the general criteria to promote children’s health development, including limiting screen time. Below are the guidelines published by WHO (in a 24-hour day) for young children and teenagers:
| Ages | Physical activity | Sedentary screen time | Good quality sleep |
| > 1 year old | Minimum 30 minutes | 0 minute | 14 – 17 months (for 0-3 months old) and 12-16 hours (for 4 – 11 months) |
| 1 – 2 years | Minimum 180 minutes | 0 minutes (for 1-year-old) and less than 60 minutes (for 2-year-old) | 11 – 14 hours |
| 3 – 4 years | Minimum 180 minutes or a minimum of 60 minutes for moderate – to vigorous-intensity physical activity. | Less than 60 minutes | 10-13 hours |
| 5 – 17 years | An average of 60 minutes per day of moderate – to vigorous-intensity physical activity. | No specific time limits, highly depends on the type of screentime usage | No specific time provided |
Overall, these two guidelines emphasized that limiting the duration of screen time is the way to go. Young children should consume screen time that is appropriate and mindful for their age cohort. Combining both guidelines could serve as a way for parents to address the confusion between screen time guidelines, as both have the same function and can be implemented side-by-side.
Despite the recommendation to limit children’s screen time to less than 1 hour/day. Reality speaks for itself: Common Sense Media surveyed 1,578 American parents and found that children under 2 years old spent an average of 1 hour and 3 minutes. In contrast, children between the ages of 5 and 8 years old reported 3 and a half hours of screen time daily in 2024.
Another study among 1,500 children aged 8 to 18 years old in the United States finds that the average time spent on screens is around 7.5 hours a day. At the same time, recent data about teens is from the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021 to 2023, which finds that 50.4% teenagers aged between 12 and 17 years spend more than 4 hours daily on screen time.
While you may think that screen-based media and gadgets can be a lifesaver to entertain your children while you run errands, it is important to remember that “only this time” or “only for 1 or 2 hours” can turn into a bad habit that can stretch out longer than it should because the screen is addictive, especially as children get older.
But you can put a stop to it before it becomes too late. Because if there are a few things you can control regarding your children’s screen time consumption, it is their content and the rules around it.
Based on screen-time reports and research, it is clear that total screen time rises steadily as children grow older.
While the total duration of screen time is important to manage, it’s not the end of the story. Screen time can be valuable, too. Introducing educational content that is suitable and appropriate for young children could help children interact and learn with the help of screen time, instead of just passively watching it.
Now this is where you come in: be more aware and selective about the types of content you allow your children to watch and hear. The benefits of young children watching higher-quality, age-appropriate programs are highlighted in a meta-analysis of 18,905 global participants, which finds that this type of content is associated with stronger children’s language skills.
Additionally, the later introduction of screen time also helps children to develop stronger language skills.
But remember one thing: being selective about the content your children can consume doesn’t mean it can replace real-time interaction with you. Using screen time can be beneficial as a complement to your parenting strategies, especially when you use it to its full potential rather than relying on it.
It’s easy to let yourself have a quiet time by relying on screen time to distract your children. It gives you a few minutes to run your day’s errands without having to attend to your children constantly, or even some much-needed R&R. But what starts as just a few minutes can quickly turn into a bad habit if you let it.
You can prevent bad habits if you recognize that screen time is a learning tool for your children, not a replacement for them. By remembering that, you can use it to its full potential rather than relying on it entirely.
Here are a few practices you can implement in approaching screen time for your children:
Based on the WHO and AAP guidelines, you now know the maximum screen time appropriate for your children, based on their age. But now you have to worry about how to implement those guidelines without resorting to power struggles with your children. This all could start early, with setting tight boundaries regarding the use of screen time in your children’s lives.
Here are some evidence-based strategies that parents can use to implement boundaries regarding screen time:
Read more: How to Help Children Develop Healthy Screen Time
While limiting screen time is no doubt beneficial for children’s development, so is promoting other activities that can boost their healthy development.
Other activities without screen time, such as encouraging outdoor physical activity, exploration, and reading, can help foster children’s healthy development. Here is some activity you can do with your children in place of screen time:
Read more: Too Little Activity, Too Much Weight: Sedentary Lifestyle and Obesity in Children
All the limitations and routines regarding screen time would be for nothing if you do not uphold the same standard. Young children are observant and quickly learn from their parents’ behavior. Therefore, merely implementing rules without following them yourself would send the message that the rules are meaningless.
In a representative survey of American parents, 65% admitted to spending too much time on their smartphones. While this number might seem harmless, young children notice whenever their parents choose to pay attention to their smartphones. As shown in a study in the Philippines, children are 4.19 times more likely to use screen time excessively if their parents do too, and nearly 9 times more likely if they are left alone.
The findings above show that parents should uphold the same rules and limitations they impose on their children. By modelling a healthy approach to screen time usage, children learn way more effectively without the power struggle.
Read more: Digital Boundaries: Creating a Screen-Free Home for Better Focus and Family Time
Behavioral and cognitive scientists have concluded that excessive screen time can definitely harm your children’s development. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. If managed and appropriately regulated, screen time could be your partner in parenting your children through the various educational and bonding moments available for each age cohort.
Instead of outright banning screen-based media for your children, which is often not feasible, you can instead be actively in charge of it. Start by being more aware of its possible consequences, when it is too much, and how to effectively manage it without relying on it. Awareness about all these makes a huge difference.
Incorporating small changes that can help your children form early healthy habits with screen time, instead of being addicted to it.
If you want to see more resources on screen time, check out the Parenting Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and tools. Visit the Parenting Science Labs today.
Photo by Freepik
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