English children born in the 2020s are getting twice the daily recommended screentime, a new study warns.
Studies show the time spent by toddlers watching television, videos, or other digital content is linked to poorer language development and higher rates of emotional and behavioural difficulties.
For kids aged 2-4, the WHO recommends no more than an hour of screentime a day.
But the latest study found that two-year-olds watched screens for an average of two hours a day.
The study analysed data from over 4,700 caregivers of two-year-old children in the country, with the participants answering questions about their child’s home learning environment, screen time, and emotions and behaviour.
Researchers also quizzed the parents about their own circumstances, including their mental health and well-being, and completed an assessment to measure their child’s spoken vocabulary.
The study found that toddlers who spent the most time on screens – an average of five hours a day – scored lower in vocabulary tests than those who spent the least time, an average of 44 minutes daily.
Two-year-olds who spent the most time on screens were also twice as likely to develop emotional and behavioural difficulties, the study found. This association remained even after considering background factors such as parental income and education.
Researchers found the children of parents who reported symptoms of depression spent more time watching television, videos, and other digital content than those without.
In contrast, parenting activities like reading stories, playing together, drawing, or painting were strongly linked to better early language skills.
“An important feature of the Children of the 2020s study is its focus on early-life exposure to digital media, and these latest findings provide important insights into its prevalence in young children in England,” said Laurel Fish, an author of the study from University College London.
“The research highlights a strong social patterning of screen time in England, with two-year-olds in families experiencing greater economic disadvantages or whose primary caregiver is experiencing symptoms of depression using screens more than those in other families.”
While the study doesn’t prove for certain that screen time is causing these differences in early childhood development, the researchers say, it reinforces the need to consider this carefully and to give families good advice.
“It is also important to bear in mind that screen time is often perceived by parents as a valuable way to help them juggle the challenges of the modern household or settle children when over-excited, upset or tired, and to provide educational content, like nursery rhymes, early literacy and numeracy activities,” Dr Fish said.