Parents, please note! Limited time on the screen for the brains of children

If you want your children to be successful in life, limit their screen time to less than two hours, encourage them to do physical activity and get enough sleep, suggests new research.

After a delay of two hours during childhood and adolescence, it is particularly important for cognitive development, showed results published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

"We found that more than two hours of screen time in children were associated with lower cognitive development," said one of the researchers, Jeremy Walsh, of the Institute. CHEO Research Center, Canada.
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The study involved more than 4,500 American children aged 8 to 11 years old.

Children and parents completed questionnaires and measurements at the beginning of the test to estimate physical activity, sleep and time spent in front of the child 's screen.

In addition, the children also completed a cognition test that assessed language skills, episodic memory, executive function, attention, working memory, and processing speed.

The researchers examined how responding to recommendations from 9 to 11 hours of sleep, less than two hours of screen time and at least an hour of daily physical activity affected children's cognition.

The more the child met individual recommendations, the better his knowledge was, showed the results.

In addition, only recommendations for screen time or recommendations for screen time and sleep were most strongly associated with cognitive development.

"Daily behaviors and activities contribute to brain and cognitive development in children, and physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep can affect cognition independently and collectively," said Walsh.

"Based on our findings, pediatricians, parents, educators and policymakers should promote limiting screen time and prioritize healthy sleep patterns throughout childhood and early childhood. adolescence, "added Walsh.