Screen Time and Your Child’s Health

We all know how much children, young people and adults enjoy watching TV, playing video games, or using smartphones and tablets. But did you know that spending too much time on screens can affect your child’s health and wellbeing?

What does too much screen time mean for your child?

When children spend a lot of time on screens, it often means they are sitting still for long periods, which can lead to problems like:

• Physical health issues such as weight gain, trouble sleeping, and eye strain.
• Mental health challenges feeling anxious, low, or having less confidence.
• Learning and social difficulties like struggling to pay attention or having trouble learning new words and social skills.

What’s the advice for parents?

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer says it’s important for children to spend less time sitting and more time moving. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children aged 5-17 should keep their fun screen time to less than 2 hours per day.

Other countries in Europe suggest:

• No screen time for children under 2.
• 1 hour a day of screen time for children aged 2-5.
• Less than 2 hours a day for school-aged children.

How can we manage screen time?

It’s all about balance! While screens can help children learn, stay connected with friends, and explore their creativity, it’s just as important to encourage physical activity, social interaction, and parental supervision. Making sure the content your child watches is age-appropriate is also key.

Let’s Get Moving with Screen Off, Life On!

Screen Off Life On is a public resource, co-created by Bradford families and tailored for children, young people and adults to help Bradford families get up, get out, and get happy! Our Screen Off, Life On campaign aims to help families swap some of their screen time for fun, active, off-screen activities.

Why not give our fun activity swapper a try? It’s a great way to pick activities that your child can enjoy instead of screen time. You can find it here.

Let’s move more and feel better together!