What are the effects of watching too much time on the phone, tablet screen on childrenKids today are glued to screens for a much larger part of the day: whether for entertainment, learning, or just being together. There are many advantages to technology, but excessive screen time can have harmful implications for children's physical, cognitive and emotional health.

Physical ImpactsToo much screen time in children is a risk factor for some of the following physical problems:Weight Gain and Obesity: Time spent looking at screens results in weight gain and obesity (Soliman et al., 2014). Children who are glued to screen screens for hours per day aren’t as likely to exercise, consume fewer calories and become overweight or obese.Difficulty sleeping: The blue light reflected by screens can disrupt melatonin, a hormone that is essential to sleep (Roigk et al., 2024). This can disrupt sleep schedules and create problems falling, staying asleep and sleeping well in children.Eye fatigue and headaches: Long hours at the screen strain your eyes and cause headaches. The vision in children is cloudy, they can dry out their eyes, and they can feel uncomfortable.Mismatched posture: Being hunched over screens for long times leads to mismatched posture and muscle injuries.Mental ImpactsChildren’s intellectual functioning also suffers from a high screen time:Attention span: Instant stimuli and fast paced online entertainment decrease children’s attention span and hinders their ability to focus on tasks that require sustained attention (Simmer et al., 2013).Communication: Too much screen time can discourage the kids from having more of a direct experience with people, and that is what language development looks like. For children who don’t spend as much time talking and connecting with others, language learning may be impaired.Learning difficulties: Screen time might be associated with learning challenges since it may also decrease the time for other cognitively stimulating activities like reading, playing, or communicating with others.Mental and Social ImplicationsScreen time is also problematic for children’s emotional and social health:Mood disorders: Research has connected screen time to the risk of mood disorders like anxiety and depression.Social skills: Too much online time can interfere with children’s development of social skills such as empathy, collaboration, and negotiation.Aggression: Inhaling violent videos on screen is able to make kids hypersensitive to violence and increase aggressive tendencies.Mentoring Children Towards a Balanced Experience of Technology & Health.Parents and educators must educate children to have a positive connection with technology. Some of these strategies are as follows:Limit screen time: Create some precise rules on how long children can sit in front of screens.Physical activity: Outdoor play, games, etc.Designate tech-free zones: Mark some places — like the dining table and bedrooms — as tech-free zones.Play non-screen activities together: You should spend time together as a family doing screen-free activities like reading, playing games, and chatting.Be a role model: Be an example of tech-friendly behaviour yourself, reducing screen time for yourself, and getting people together.With these techniques, we can create an environment for children that will support their healthy relationship with technology, avoiding the damaging effects of screen time and extracting the best from technology.

References

• Roigk, P., Graeb, F., Geirsdóttir, Ó.G. and Bell, J., 2024. Nutrition and Hydration. In: Fragility Fracture and Orthogeriatric Nursing (pp. 171-189). Springer, Cham.
• Simmer, K., Rakshasbhuvankar, A. and Deshpande, G., 2013. Standardised parenteral nutrition. Nutrients, 5(4), pp.1058-1070.
• Soliman, A., De Sanctis, V. and Elalaily, R., 2014. Nutrition and pubertal development. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 18(Suppl 1), p.39.