Screen use increased during pandemic for children aged 6 to 10 years

Children aged 6 to 10 years reported screen time increases of 1.4 hours per day during the COVID-19 pandemic, and increases in screen time were associated with adverse dietary behaviors, according to a study.

The data come from the latest in a string of investigations into children’s and adolescents’ screen use from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. One study in Pediatrics last year reported that adolescents’ screen time had doubled to more than 7 hours per day during the pandemic, whereas others linked increased screen time to symptoms of anxiety and myopia.

In a new study published in The Lancet, researchers from the Vision and Eye Research Institute at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, United Kingdom, examined 89 studies on screen time and its factoring into sedentary activity for children and adolescents during the pandemic.

“The severity of lockdown has varied from country to country, even region to region, with some countries limiting the distance people could travel from their homes, and some banning any unnecessary outdoor activity,” they wrote. “These lockdowns have undoubtedly impacted the way in which people work, travel, and spend recreational time ... a systematic review reported in the initial phases ... of the pandemic [that] the majority of adults and children had increased time in sedentary behaviors.”

The 89 studies included a total of 204,734 subjects. The researchers found that it was primarily children aged 6 to 10 years who reported the largest increases of total screen time, at an average of 1.4 hours per day (95% CI, 1.1-1.7). Adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years reported an average of 0.9 hours per day, whereas children aged 0 to 5 years gained an average of 0.6 hours per day.

In outcomes that were related to overall screen time, 50% of the outcomes yielded significant outcomes. The outcomes included “a negative association between increases in screen time and a ‘constant diet’ during COVID” (OR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.56-0.82). Increases in screen time were reported to be associated with “unhealthy dietary changes” (OR = 1.54; 95% CI, 1.21-1.96), increases in appetite, sweets and unhealthy food consumption, late-night snacking and decreases in regular protein intake.

“These results are in line with research showing increases in sedentary behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, although this study is the first to examine screen time independently,” they wrote. “Although the increases in total screen time could be partially caused by increasing time in front of a screen for work or academic purposes (such as increases in online meetings and education), the increases in nonacademic screen time in children are concerning.”

The researchers concluded that screen time should be reduced in favor of nonsedentary activities.