TODDLERS IN SWEDEN should not be allowed have any screen time, the local public health authority told parents this morning, and ruled that children under two should be kept away from televisions and digital media.

In the new recommendations, issued today, kids aged between two and five should be limited to a maximum of one hour of screen time a day while those aged six to 12 should spend no more than two hours a day in front of a screen.

The health agency also recommended that kids not use screens before going to bed and that phones and tablets be kept out of bedroom at night. It cited research showing that excessive screen use can lead to poor sleep, depression and body dissatisfaction.

Sweden’s Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed said: “For too long, smartphones and other screens have been allowed to enter every aspect of our children’s lives.”

He added that research suggests that teens aged 13 to 16 spend six and a half hours a day on average in front of their screens, outside of school hours. The new recommendations say those aged between 13 to 18 should be limited to three hours per day.

Forssmed said that didn’t leave “a lot of time for communal activities, physical activity or adequate sleep”, and lamented a Swedish “sleep crisis” noting that more than half of 15-year-olds did not get enough sleep.

In Ireland, the HSE recommends that children under 18 months do not use screens at all, but do have exceptions when it comes to video calls with families.

For children between 18 months and two years old, parents are told to limit the use of screens “as much as possible”, and the HSE suggest the use of toys or other activities to keep them occupied if a guardian is busy.

A 2021 review, conducted on behalf of Growing Up In Ireland, found that the average number of hours that children were watching television had fallen, compared to figures in 1998, but the average was still between one to three hours a day.

For digital content, such as YouTube or gaming, it remained less than one hour.

The HSE recommends that children between two and five years old only receive one hour of screen time per day and acknowledge that, once the child is six, a ‘one size fits all’ approach “may not work” for all parents.

Parents are encouraged to then promote outdoor activities to children or alternatives to screens, such as reading. The advice suggests that less screen time can improve a child’s social skills, language skills, sleep and fitness levels.

Similarly to Ireland, Sweden’s government has previously said it is looking at a ban on smartphones in primary schools.

Earlier this month, education minister Norma Foley said she was looking at banning phones in all schools and health minister Stephen Donnelly recent supported moves to ban social media for children under 16 years old.

Contains reporting from © AFP 2024