This fall, as COVID-19 continues to disrupt life for Ontarians, high school students are learning through a hybrid in-school and at-home model and elementary school students who haven’t returned to the classroom are learning from home full-time.

More remote learning means more screen time for students attending livestreamed classes, accessing reading material online and submitting assignments online. As children and teenagers spend more time at their computers, Dr. Sharon Burey says it’s important for parents to know how to manage screen time to avoid the physical and behavioural symptoms that can arise from too much of it.

Burey is a Windsor, Ont.-based behavioural pediatrician and president of the Pediatrician Association of Ontario. She said parents should start by knowing the recommended guidelines around screen time for children:

• Screen time is not recommended for children under two years old

• For children two to five years old, limit recreational screen time to less than one hour per day

• For children older than five, limit recreational screen time to less than two hours per day

Surpassing these limits can put children at risk of negative health effects.

Negative effects of too much screen time

To Burey, the most obvious way excessive screen time impacts people, including children, is through the shift toward a more sedentary lifestyle.

“It can lead to increase in weight gain and obesity,” Burey said. “So we do recommend at least 60 minutes of activity per day that increases the heart rate.”

Citing a study published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity in 2010, recreational sedentary activities are linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome and hypertension.

Burey said children, especially those under six years old, who engage in excessive screen time are also at risk of developing problems with inattention.

“An increasing amount of kids are actually diagnosed with [attention deficit hyperactive disorder], behaviour problems and learning problems if you have excessive media time,” she said.

A in 2019 concluded that five-year-old children who were exposed to more than two hours of screen time per day were more than seven times more likely to meet the criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They were also five times more likely to exhibit significant behavioural problems such as inattention, acting out, hyperactivity and being oppositional.

Finally, Burey said staring at a screen for too long can lead to sleep-related problems and eyestrain, including focusing fatigue.

“What happens with your near vision is it’s going to get sort of stuck in that position,” she said. “And that’s why you get blurry vision and eye fatigue.”

What can families do

Burey said parents shouldn’t need to take away children’s leisure time on the computer in order to mitigate the risks of excessive screen time. They can start by demonstrating healthy behaviour for their kids.

“If parents use a lot of screen time…then you’re going to have children modelling the behaviour,” she said. “So I always start with the parents and things like not having the TV on all day.”

She said parents can also punctuate screen time with breaks for play and exercise. For students learning from home full-time, school days can be split into 60-to-90-minute learning segments, with breaks away from the screen in between. To avoid eye strain, use the 20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, look away from the screen and focus on an object or spot at least 20 feet away, for 20 seconds.

Burey said some parents of children learning remotely have opted to print lesson materials whenever possible to reduce time spent learning in front of a computer. She said parents can also check with their child’s school to see if any lesson materials are available in booklet form.

“I think parents are doing some workarounds to say, ‘We don’t need to have you sitting there to do everything on the screen, we can do some of the assignments by hand knowing you can submit them digitally,’” she said.

After school, parents can encourage kids to take breaks from screen time by planning fun activities.

“You always want to be on the positive side of doing some positive behavioural reinforcement,” she said. “You wouldn’t be taking away their time, because that’s not going to work. But if you substitute other things like playing cards, board games and other outdoor activities, it’s easier to substitute that.”

And for a good sleep at the end of the day, Burey said, people of all ages should avoid looking at screens for an hour before bed.