Health Practitioners Raise Concerns over Dangers of Screen Time in Children

An appeal has been made to parents to follow approved screen time guidelines for children to avoid vision and other harmful health problems.

The appeal was made by Mrs. Omoregie Abiryuwa Peace during the Monthly Seminar, titled, “The Hidden Dangers of Screen Time: Uncovering the Impact on Children Health organized by the Institute of Child Health, University of Benin/ University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH,

According to her, health practitioners have raised concern that there are physical health consequences, mental and emotional health effects when screen time is not regulated both in children and adult.

“The impacts of unregulated screen time includes obesity and inactivity, as it promotes sedentary behaviour.

“On posture issues, it leads to neck, shoulder and back pain, sleep disturbances, that can affect the over all sleep
quality.

“There is vision problems in child and adult caused by prolong digital strain and eye fatigue, delay in language and speech skill which results due to cognitive and brain development of the child.

While stressing that the child need active interaction, Mrs. Omoregie Abiryuwa Peace said babies need humans and not screen.

“When screens are on, adults talk less to children and there is no parental verbal interaction.

“This can lead to increased anxiety and depression as well as aggressive behavioural issues and poor academic performance.

She noted that parents must establish healthy screen time habits at home, such as no device at the dinning table, no television in children bed room, and encourage face to face conversation and bonding.

“The parents should be role models to their children in managing screen time by not eating in front of the screen.

“The recommended screen time is that there should be no screen time for children under two years because it can cause delay in speech, one hour screen time for eighteen months to six years, under two hours daily for children between seven and twelve years,” she added.