Children born in the 2020s in the UK are focusing on screens for twice the daily recommended time, a new study suggests.
The University College London has conducted a study on the data supplied by over 4700 caregivers of two-year-olds in the country.
The partakers provided information about daily life and the home environment in which the children live, shining an interesting light on their use of screens and consequent behaviours and emotions.
And while the World Health Organization recommends kids aged 2 to 4 be exposed to no more than an hour of screen time a day, the study found that UK toddlers watched screens for around two hours a day.
Consequences on vocabulary
Dr Laurel Fish, a researcher at the University College London, commented on the findings of her team’s study.
“An important feature of the Children of the 2020s study is its focus on early-life exposure to digital media, and these latest findings provide important insights into its prevalence in young children in England,” she explained.
“The research highlights a strong social patterning of screen time in England, with two-year-olds in families experiencing greater economic disadvantages or whose primary caregiver is experiencing symptoms of depression using screens more than those in other families,” she added.
The research, in fact, underlined how kids with parents or caregivers who suffered from depression or other mental health problems were most likely to spend more time in front of a screen each day, whether it be television or online digital content.
On the other hand, the report highlighted that the lower the time spent on phones, tablets and TVs, the bigger the child’s spoken vocabulary.
That vocabulary capacity is also expected to grow if the caregivers spend time not only reading to the child, but also drawing or playing with them.
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Guidance for parents
Following the study, the UK Government said it will publish guidance on screen time for parents of under-fives in England. The report will be released in April.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also commented on the study, saying: “Screens are part of family life now.”
“The question parents are asking isn’t whether to use them, but how to use them well,” she added.
“It is important to bear in mind that screen time is often perceived by parents as a valuable way to help them juggle the challenges of the modern household or settle children when over-excited, upset or tired, and to provide educational content, like nursery rhymes, early literacy and numeracy activities,” Dr Fish concluded.
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