The effects of Screen time

15 Nov The effects of Screen time

Screen time can have both negative and positive impacts. In our modern-day world, it is impossible to keep our children away from screens. However, it is important to understand the impact that screen time can have on children’s development.

Positive impacts include the following 

• Education 
• Learning to use technology 
• Helps to develop problem solving skills  
• Develops creativity 
• Develops social and communication skills 

Unfortunately, there are many more negative impacts that we need to be aware of. Screen time has a lot of physical impacts which can be as follows: 

• Irritated and dry eyes 
• Headaches 
• Neck pain and subsequent development of poor posture 
• Fatigue 

This is in addition to known risks that inactivity can cause including risk of overweight and obesity and associated comorbidities e.g., diabetes. 

Additionally negative impacts can be felt socially and emotionally including: 

• Reduced language and social skills 
• Impacting conversation 
• Reduced eye contact 
• Poor attention and concentration 
• Negative impacts on moods 

To combat these negative impacts, we recommend you set a limited screen time a day allowed for each of your children. Use things such as tablet stand, taking regular breaks and looking at the screen from a distance where possible. For older Kids and adolescents that also need to use screen time to complete their homework and study we recommend encouraging your child to take regular breaks every 15-30min to do some stretches of move around. 

In addition, it is great to have scheduled non-screen time with your kids. This can include things like organised sport, going to the park, going for a walk or a bike ride. It can also include indoor activities like a family game night or playing cards.  

For children who have developed poor posture as a result of screen time exercises and physiotherapy can certainly help to fix/reduce this poor posture. If you have these concerns for your child please do not hesitate to contact the physiotherapists at Western Paediatric Physiotherapy.