Time and use of screens in children and adolescents: a review and comparison of the guidelines of five health care institutions

Abstract

Background and objective. Screen time is a common activity among the routines of the youngest. Thus, some institutions have proposed guidelines on healthy screen time in the paediatric population, although there are controversies between them. The aim of this work is to revise and to compare the main recommendations of five health institutions about screen time and usage of screens in children and adolescent population (up to 19 years old). Methods. We revised and compared guidelines about screen time and usage of screens purposed for five health institutions: Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics, Canadian Pediatric Society, and Government of Australia Results. Guidelines were based on the duration in front of screens. Guidelines unanimously agreed on the limitation of time and use among the youngest children (0-5 years), however, these recommendations were not as clear cut for those school-aged children and adolescents. Conclusions. Guidelines should include other important aspects on usage of screens as recommendations differentiating between devices, about educational screen time or taking