Children on screen more than ever, quarter of babies more than two hours a day

ANP Picture for illustration

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 07:02

Compared to previous years, children up to the age of 6 spend more time in front of a tablet, telephone or television screen. On average, this concerns 100 minutes per day, which is an increase of 7 minutes compared to last year. This is evident from the annual Iene Miene Media survey.

Media use starts at a very young age. One in four parents with a baby aged 0 to 1 say that their child watches a screen for at least two hours a day.

According to the network, media use often goes hand in hand with sitting still, the older the children get the more often this is the case. Excessive use of digital media and too little exercise at a young age can “negatively affect sleep and language development and promote obesity and myopia”, says Peter Nikken, one of the researchers on behalf of Netwerk Mediawijsheid.

Parents satisfied

Parents are generally satisfied with their child’s balance between sleeping, moving and sitting. 80 percent of educators think this is going well.

Current media use among young children is higher than what the World Health Organization recommends. According to these official guidelines, children up to the age of two should not have screen time and children up to the age of five should have no more than one hour a day. Network Media Literacy is therefore concerned.

In addition to reducing media use, parents can do more to limit the effects of screen time, the researchers say. According to the organization, this starts with your own screen time. Half of the parents are aware of the exemplary function, but indicate that they find it difficult to adjust their own media use.

In addition to paying attention to one’s own behavior, according to researcher Anouk Tuijnman, it is important to encourage variety. “Not only between different activities, but also between the way a child performs those activities, sitting or moving,” says Tuijnman.

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