Family habits related to the excessive use of recreational screens (television and video games) in childhood

Background: An increase in screen time has been observed among children despite the impact on health. This study was aimed to analyze if the child population complies with health recommendations for adequate use of recreational screens (television and video games) and to evaluate associated variables. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 521 children between 6 months and 14 years old who attended Primary Care. A self-administered survey was used to collect sociodemographic variables, child's recreational screens time, the parent's television (TV) time, and related environmental and sociocultural variables. Results: 521 surveys were carried out (55.2% boys and 44.8% girls). Recreational screen time in children under 2 years of age averaged 71 minutes/day and increased to 160 minutes/day in those over 10 years old. Boys had 30% more video game time than girls. A total of 80% of the sample started using TV before 2 years of age. The modifiable variables that showed an independent association with excess of time spent on recreational screens were the parental TV time (OR 4.34; 95% CI: 2.48-7.72), maintaining the background TV on often (OR 1.70; 95% CI: 1.07-2.72) and watching TV usually alone (OR 2.08; 95%: 1.30-3.32). Conclusions: Most of the child population does not comply with the main recommendations of health organizations regarding the adequate use of recreational screens. Our results indicated that environmental and cultural variables influence screen time. Our findings can contribute to design strategies to improve the use of recreational screens in childhood.

Automated summary

The study found that children's recreational screen time has increased significantly, with most children failing to comply with health recommendations from health organizations. Boys spend more time on video games than girls, and modifiable variables such as parental TV time, often keeping the background TV on, and watching TV alone are independent factors influencing excessive screen time for children.