WHO: Infants under 1 year of age should not be exposed to electronic screens

Infants under 1 year of age should not be exposed to electronic screens, according to guidelines issued Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

The agency, which issued its first guidelines of this type, also said that children aged 2 to 4 should not have more than an hour of "time spent in front of a sedentary screen" – including playing games on computer or watch TV – a day. He also stressed that these young children must be physically active and sleep well, habits that prevent obesity and other diseases later in life, added WHO. .

"Ensuring health for all means doing what is best for health right from the beginning of people's lives," said the Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement. . "Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a period in which family lifestyles can be adapted to improve health."

Babies should not be exposed to screens at all, but participate in interactive floor games, the WHO said. He also recommended that children 1 to 4 years of age do at least three hours of physical activity each day.

In summary: Drop the screens and swap reading, tales, songs and riddles.

According to the WHO, inadequate physical activity is directly linked to more than 5 million deaths worldwide, in all age groups, during a given year. Almost a quarter of adults and 80% of adolescents are not active enough – and acquire harmful habits early in life.

The screens can be the main culprits.

"What we really need to do is bring back play for the kids," Juana Willumsen, WHO expert on obesity and physical activity in children, said in a statement. "It's about going from sedentary to recess, while protecting sleep. "

This story will be updated.