Smartphones, television, video games… Children spend a lot of time in front of them according to the Elfe study (French longitudinal study since childhood), carried out by INED (National Institute for Demographic Studies) and Inserm (National Institute for health and medical research): almost an hour a day at 2 years, 1 hour and 20 at 3.5 years and 1 hour and 34 at 5.5 years.
Worrying results, sharply increasing in recent years, which exceed the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). The latter recommends not exposing children under 2 to screens, then limiting the time to 1 hour a day between 2 and 5 years.
Differences based on the social environment
According to the study, which surveyed more than 18,000 children, these screen times differ according to social background. Therefore, overall, they are higher in families of immigrant origin, or with a low level of education of the mother.
The numbers also differ by region. A child from the Hauts-de-France watches more television than a 2-year-old Breton, with an average of 1 hour and 4 minutes for the former, against just 41 minutes for the latter.
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However, he notes that gender has no impact on screen consumption: no difference is observed at 2 years between boys and girls, but a slight difference emerges thereafter. At age 5, boys watch screens 10 minutes more than girls.
Only 13% of parents ban screens before age 2
Another worrying fact, this report shows that only 13% of parents implement the recommendation to ban screens before the age of 2. However, this recommendation is essential, at the risk, a few years later, of having deleterious effects on its progeny.
But the study authors acknowledge some limitations, including that the data is purely declarative. “ It is difficult to predict the recent evolution of uses in children under 6 years of agethey write. As portable screens such as smartphones and tablets have strongly developed during the 2010s, we might expect an increase in screen time, but this would ignore the fact that prevention messages aimed at young children are also multiplying during this period. »
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
