Two hours or less screen time for kids improves cognitive function: Study

According to a study published Wednesday in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, limiting the screening time of children to two hours or less per day is associated with higher cognitive function.

Canadian researchers at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario have evaluated more than 4,500 children over 10 years on how time, physical activity and sleep affect their mental functions – overall cognition –

The children were between 8 and 11 years old at the beginning of the study.

The researchers found that children's overall cognition in children was positively associated with those who spent only two hours or less on screens. These results occurred in the same way in children and fulfilled the daily recommendations for physical activity (60 minutes per day) and sleep (between nine and 11 hours).

The recommendations come from the Canadian Guidelines for 24-Hour Movement for Children and Youth.

The researchers said this study is the first to examine how a combination of these recommendations influences brain function in children.

"We know that the behavior of physical activity, sleep and the time spent in front of a screen can have an independent impact on the cognitive health of the child. However, these behaviors are never considered in combination, "Jeremy Walsh, lead author of the study and former postdoctoral fellow at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, told CNN.

"We really had the opportunity here to see how to respond to each of these guidelines and to follow all the guidelines pertaining to cognition in a large sample of American children."

Of the children observed, at least 71% responded to at least one recommendation, but only 5% met all three.

Of the individual recommendations, 51% of children responded to the sleep recommendation, 37% responded to the recommendation for screen time, and 18% responded to the physical activity recommendation.