Limiting screen time improves kids' lives: Study

Monitoring and limiting the amount of time children spend on computers or TVs can make a huge difference in their lives and parents may see more healthy and well-behaved kids, according to a new study.
Children who get more sleep, do better in school, behave better and see other health benefits when parents limit content and the amount of time they spend in front of computers or TVs, said the study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Douglas Gentile, lead author and an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State, said the effect is not immediate and that makes it difficult for parents to recognise.

As a result, parents may think it is not worth the effort to monitor and limit their children's media use. But Gentile says they have more power than they realise.
"When parents are involved it has a powerful protective effect across a wide range of different areas that they probably never would have expected to see," Gentile said.
"However, parents aren't likely to notice that putting limits on the children's media is having these effects seven months later."

Considering that children average more than 40 hours of screen time a week, not counting time spent on a computer at school, even small changes can make a difference, researchers said.

The study found there is a ripple effect associated with the benefits of limiting both screen time and media content.
Gentile is not surprised to see a direct impact on sleep, academics and behavior. However, limited screen time also indirectly affects body mass index.
The study found that children got more sleep if parents limited screen time, which also resulted in lower risk of obesity.
Parents limiting exposure to violent media resulted in increased pro-social behavior and lowered aggressive behavior seven months later.
Researchers analyzed the media habits of more than 1,300 school children who were recruited to participate in an obesity prevention programme.

Students and parents were surveyed about everything from screen time limits, to violent media exposure, to bedtimes and behavior.
Teachers reported grades and commented on student behavior and school nurses measured each student's height and weight.