Sweden’s Public Health Agency is recommending that parents restrict how long children spend in front of digital screens to ensure a “better balance” between screen time and life experiences.
“Children under the age of 2 should not use digital media at all and older children should limit their use so that important parts of life are not crowded out,” the agency said in a Sept. 2 press release.
“A rule of thumb is that young children 2–5 years old use a screen for a maximum of 1 hour per day, children 6–12 years a maximum of 1–2 hours, and children 13–18 years a maximum of 2–3 hours.”
In addition, children should not be exposed to screens before bedtime and mobile phones and tablets should be left outside the bedroom at night, the health agency stated.
The agency suggests that parents “actively control” content to which children are exposed on digital media by formulating a set of rules.
Helena Frielingsdorf, doctor and investigator at the agency, said that most young people who responded to the health agency surveys expressed concerns about how they are affected by their use of digital media and expressed a desire to change their habits.
The agency published a report in June stating that high frequency of digital media use can result in poor sleep, depressive symptoms, and apprehension about one’s body.
The recent recommendations aim to “promote a better balance between screen time and other important parts of life such as physical activity, sleep and other health-promoting activities for children and young people, and to reduce exposure to inappropriate content,” the agency said.
Sweden isn’t the only European nation taking action.
In November 2023, the Netherlands instituted a ban on mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches in classrooms beginning in the 2024–25 school year.
Last May, a group of experts submitted a report to French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the impact of young people’s exposure to screens.
Screen Exposure Harms
Multiple studies have described the negative effects of excessive screen time on children.
A 2023 study from Japan followed more than 7,000 mother-child pairs between 2013 and 2017. For 1-year-olds and younger, spending one to four hours in front of a screen raised the risk of delays in crucial skills, including controlling body movements and socializing with other children.
Higher screen time also raises the risk of developing ADHD symptoms by seven times among preschoolers who spend over two hours per day on digital devices, an earlier Canadian study from 2019 warned.
An August 2023 study from Canada found that children’s screen time ballooned to six hours per day, and sometimes as much as 13 hours, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although this number dropped to four hours during the time of the study, it was still double the screen time recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Society.
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry recommends that parents limit non-educational screen time to one hour per weekday and three hours per weekend days for children between 2 and 5 years old.
For infants between 18 and 24 months, screen time “should be limited to watching educational programming with a caregiver,” the academy said. “Until 18 months of age, limit screen use to video chatting along with an adult.”
In October, multiple Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), introduced The Eyes on the Board Act to tackle the problem at schools, according to a press release.
It suggests promoting “parental limits and transparency on screen time in schools by requiring schools receiving E-Rate subsidies to adopt a screen time policy as a condition of receiving federal funding.” The proposed legislation also calls for limiting children’s access to “distracting and addictive social media apps or websites.”
The measure received support from the American College of Pediatricians, the Family Policy Alliance, The Institute for Family Studies, and other groups.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposes the legislation, calling it “another misguided attempt to limit social media for teens.”