Kids under two shouldn’t be allowed any screen time, say Swedish doctors

Children under the age of two should not use smartphones and tablets or watch television, Swedish doctors say.

The Swedish Association of Pediatricians has also told parents that an hour a day is enough screen time for children between the ages of two and five.

Experts have long been sounding the alarm about the impact of screen time on children’s development.

TThe new recommendations are intended to help national policy makers and also include advice on the role parents play in guiding responsible media use.

Guiding children to use screen time wisely is as crucial as teaching good eating habits or road safety, the experts argued.

It follows a similar move by Danish officials who issued their own age-related rules in September, only allowing young people under the age of two to use the devices in “very special cases”, such as people with learning disabilities.

In the society’s new report, the clinicians wrote: ‘Although digital screens can present useful information, provide entertainment and provide opportunities for contact with other people, young children’s brains are not yet mature enough to absorb their benefits.

‘On the contrary, research shows that children’s development can be negatively affected by the early use of digital screens.’

Children who regularly use smartphone, tablet and computer screens are more irritable, have poorer concentration and retain information for only half as long as those who don’t, they say.

Research also shows that children who spend more time in front of screens have a greater chance of developing behavioral problems or childhood depression.

But doctors also called on parents and other adults to control their own screen use.

“Unlike books, digital media often has built-in reinforcement mechanisms that make even young children increasingly want to use the screen,” the report said.

‘There is a high risk that digital media will be used when the child is bored or when adults are unavailable and therefore act as a babysitter.

‘Since digital media often contains fast cuts and transitions, intense colors and sounds, there is an increased risk of developing a sensitivity to immediate rewards.’

The World Health Organization issued similar guidelines in 2019, advising children under the age of three not to watch TV or play games on a tablet.

Children aged three and four should also have no more than an hour of screen time per day, the body said.

However, British experts claimed at the time that the guidelines were based on poor evidence and failed to recognize that not all screen time was bad for children.

A 2019 report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health also concluded: ‘We believe that the risks of screen exposure should not be overestimated.’

They added: ‘The literature takes little account of the increasing demand for school homework to be completed on screens.

“We note that there is no evidence that screen-based homework is associated with any greater or lesser health harm or benefit than traditional homework.”

Children’s screen time skyrocketed during the Covid pandemic, as lockdowns and school closures forced them to stay indoors.

In Britain, neither the NHS nor the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) have detailed guidelines for screen time in babies and toddlers.

But they do recommend an upper limit of two hours per day for all children.

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer is also suggesting a ‘precautionary approach’ to the use of fencing equipment.