Nature Canada: The Health Impacts of too much Screen Time
Excessive screen time is having negative health impacts on Canadian children. This report summarizes the available research in an accessible format, together with recommendations for parents. We have seen a dramatic shift in the way children spend their time, with less time playing outside and more time spent indoors, sedentary and screen-based. A growing body of research is sounding the alarm about the amount of time Canadian children and youth are spending sitting in front of screens. More than half of Canadian children are exceeding the recommended guidelines and it is negatively associated with their physical, mental and emotional health. The Ontario Student Health survey reports that students in grades 7 to 12 are spending up to 7 hours a day on screens, more than three and a half times the recommended limit of 2 hours per day. Spending so much time on smartphones, video games, tablets, computers and televisions significantly affects eating habits, displaces physical activities, limits children’s opportunities to interact with each other, and increases the incidence of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The Canadian 24 hour Movement Guidelines for Children is the world’s first evidence-based set of movement recommendations for a whole day in the life of a child, including recommendations for screen time, physical activity and sleep. The Guidelines are produced by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and endorsed by the Canadian Paediatric Society. 87% of pre-school children and 85% of school-aged children are not meeting the 24-hour guidelines, primarily due to too much sedentary behaviour linked to screen time. Simultaneously, researchers agree that spending time in nature and being active outdoors is beneficial to children’s physical and mental health, and helps improve their resiliency, academic performance and social skills. Physicians in Scotland, America and Canada have started prescribing time in nature, which can reduce symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, diabetes and high blood pressure, and improve cognition and immune function. Time spent exploring in nature evokes curiosity and a sense of wonder. With less time spent outside in nature, children are losing opportunities to learn, explore, discover and understand our natural environment.
Excessive screen time is having negative health impacts on Canadian children. This report summarizes the available research in an accessible format, together with recommendations for parents. We have seen a dramatic shift in the way children spend their time, with less time playing outside and more time spent indoors, sedentary and screen-based. A growing body of research is sounding the alarm about the amount of time Canadian children and youth are spending sitting in front of screens. More than half of Canadian children are exceeding the recommended guidelines and it is negatively associated with their physical, mental and emotional health. The Ontario Student Health survey reports that students in grades 7 to 12 are spending up to 7 hours a day on screens, more than three and a half times the recommended limit of 2 hours per day. Spending so much time on smartphones, video games, tablets, computers and televisions significantly affects eating habits, displaces physical activities, limits children’s opportunities to interact with each other, and increases the incidence of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The Canadian 24 hour Movement Guidelines for Children is the world’s first evidence-based set of movement recommendations for a whole day in the life of a child, including recommendations for screen time, physical activity and sleep. The Guidelines are produced by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and endorsed by the Canadian Paediatric Society. 87% of pre-school children and 85% of school-aged children are not meeting the 24-hour guidelines, primarily due to too much sedentary behaviour linked to screen time. Simultaneously, researchers agree that spending time in nature and being active outdoors is beneficial to children’s physical and mental health, and helps improve their resiliency, academic performance and social skills. Physicians in Scotland, America and Canada have started prescribing time in nature, which can reduce symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, diabetes and high blood pressure, and improve cognition and immune function. Time spent exploring in nature evokes curiosity and a sense of wonder. With less time spent outside in nature, children are losing opportunities to learn, explore, discover and understand our natural environment.