The WHO says that there is no time on screen for children under 2 years old

The World Health Organization is strongly opposed to young children watching television or playing with a smartphone, and urging parents to help them stay active and get enough sleep.

This week, the World Public Health Agency released its recommendations on the amount of physical activity and sleep of children under five to be healthy, to be as healthy as possible . The recommendations included strict screen time limits, especially for those under two years old. According to the WHO, the youngest children should avoid any screening time, while children from two to five years old can go up to one hour a day, max.

"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, "said Fiona Bull, head of the Noncommunicable Disease Prevention Surveillance Program at WHO, said in a statement the recommendations.

WHO's screen time guidelines are stricter than those we have seen from other public health agencies. In 2016, for example, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children under 18 months of age not be screened, while those aged two to five could have one to two hours a day. But even these guidelines seemed to reflect a change in the design of the risks associated with the time spent in front of a screen, the PAA emphasizing that the quality of what the children watch (such as teaching material compared to violent cartoons) or not. they interact with their parents during important factors that the exact amount of time spent watching screens.

Researchers have since argued that even these more flexible guidelines were irrelevant, as some studies had shown no clear link between longer screen time and poorer health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety and insomnia.

WHO, for its part, considers that its guidelines aim to ensure that young children develop healthy habits as early as possible. For example, it is said that any sedentary time, not just viewing screens, should be limited to one hour at a time and should include reading or narration by a caregiver. With sleep, it is recommended to children from 1 to 2 years of age from 11 to 14 hours per night, while those from 3 to 4 years old have 10 to 13 hours. Children over one year of age should also do 180 minutes of physical activity each day, with at least one hour of moderate to heavy physical activity for the more than three years.

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