[ad_1]
The World Health Organization has announced tough new guidelines on one of the most troubling issues in family life today, with respect to how much time children should be allowed to use or be distracted by the time spent in front of a screen. need less to sit down and play more "report.
According to WHO, children under one year of age should never be allowed, children under 2 should be only very rarely, and children aged 2 to 4 should not be more than an hour a day in front of a screen.
The guidelines were based on emerging scientific data on the risks badociated with screen time for the development of young minds, at a time when surveys show that children spend more and more time looking at smartphones or other mobile devices. 95% of families with children under 8 have a smartphone and 42% of children under 8 have access to their own tablet according to the organization.
The child development experts say that the acquisition of language and social skills is usually achieved through interactions with parents and other children, which constitute one of the cognitive tasks of the children. most important of childhood. "Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a period in which family lifestyles can be adapted to improve health." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, General Manager of W.H.O.
Public health groups have been working on such guidelines to help define the realities of parenting, for example when parents use videos and games to distract difficult children or how often a child to be able to communicate with an online parent who may have no other way to see them. However, these strict rules sometimes generate more guilt than useful corrections in parental decisions.
"This creates a real conflict, the more guidelines we give, there seems to be a mismatch between what the experts say … and what it feels like to be a parent in the real world every day." says Jenny Radesky of the University of Michigan.
Over the past year, a number of tools have been developed to help limit children's screen time, which could go further by improving these tools and offering less incentive services. to encourage children to use intensively. Consumer advocates often complain about features that discourage breaks, such as machine-reading features, that companies encourage compulsive behavior in children who lack self-control.
This announcement from the public health agency adds an authoritative international weight to the desire to limit the time children spend in front of their screens when access to mobile devices seems to be growing rapidly around the world.
Formerly primarily in affluent countries such as the United States, smart phone numbers are in the billions, as are other mobile devices. They are now the main portal of websites for much of the world. On its own, Youtube has a worldwide audience of over 2 billion people and is one of the most popular among children, adding advocates for measures to reduce child exposure, while scientists continue to to study the effects of brain development screens.
"It's extremely important that someone who has the authority and the reach of the WHO says that. Time spent in front of the screen is not essential for learning and is not effective for teaching ", said Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Free Commercial Childhood.
W.H.O's guidelines correspond to those of other public health groups, who generally advocate limited viewing time and abundant personal interaction for preschoolers and sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests making an exception to allow live video chat and that children under 2 could benefit from occasional viewing of educational videos, but overall suggests "Parents should prioritize creative and unplugged play time for infants and toddlers."
Most scientists and physicians can agree on the risks of over-testing for children, but deplore the limitations of available studies. Long-term consequences may be difficult to measure and ethical concerns limit and / or prevent further experiences. In addition, there is a debate about whether all the time is equal to the screen, for example a video of children playing or singing better or worse than having a conversation live video with a traveling parent; and are interactive games better or worse than watching pbadively?
The results of studies of older children have badociated screen time with behavioral and developmental problems. However, research involving infants and babies is inconclusive. JAMA Pediatrics has published a study that finds time on the screen to delay the language and social skills of toddlers. Another study published in Pediatrics found that parents were interacting with and talking to young children when they read printed books instead of reading an e-book to their children.
"The top priority for very young children should be face-to-face interactions, physical exercise and sleep. I think that the temptation to give a phone or tablet to young children every time they quarrel is misguided. Children must learn to calm down and manage their emotions. And if they receive these devices frequently, they do not learn these things, explains Jean Twenge, psychologist and author.
A group of bipartisan legislators have proposed a bill asking NIH to conduct a multi-year $ 40 million study on the effects of technology, screen time and online media on infants and older children .
According to the Family Online Safety Institute, there is a significant difference between the time spent on a screen and its use. "What we do not want is to create a situation in which parents feel ashamed of the fact that they use tablets and so on during cooking, or something like that," Stephen Balkam said. "It's about trying to find a balance."
Currently, there is not enough convincing evidence to track the effects of screen time beyond television, according to Professor Emily Oster of Brown University. "I think people have to look at this and think about the fact that these guidelines are not based on an underlying and well-documented truth and use their judgment to decide what will work,Said Oster. "These ideas that kids are going to be and need to be physically active and get enough sleep – that's a good idea, but it's not all on the screens."
"Improving physical activity, reducing periods of sedentary lifestyles and ensuring quality sleep in young children will improve their physical and mental health and well-being, and help prevent childhood obesity and obesity. Associated diseases later in life " says Dr. Fiona Bull of W.H.O
Failure to comply with the recommendations is responsible for more than 5 million deaths in all age groups around the world. Currently, 23% of adults and 80% of adolescents are not physically active enough. If sedentary lifestyles are discouraged at an early age and replaced by healthy lifestyle choices to be put in place at early stages, this will help shape lifelong habits, lifestyles, and more. adolescence to adulthood.
"What we really need to do is bring back play for the kids,Says Dr. Juana Willumsen, who is responsible for childhood obesity and physical activity. "It's about going from sedentary to recess while protecting sleep."
Source link
