Swedish Health Agency Recommends No Screen Exposure for Toddlers

Sweden’s Public Health Agency is recommending that parents restrict how long children spend in front of digital screens to ensure a “better balance” between screen time and life experiences.
“A rule of thumb is that young children 2–5 years old use a screen for a maximum of 1 hour per day, children 6–12 years a maximum of 1–2 hours, and children 13–18 years a maximum of 2–3 hours.”
In addition, children should not be exposed to screens before bedtime and mobile phones and tablets should be left outside the bedroom at night, the health agency stated.
The agency suggests that parents “actively control” content to which children are exposed on digital media by formulating a set of rules.
Helena Frielingsdorf, doctor and investigator at the agency, said that most young people who responded to the health agency surveys expressed concerns about how they are affected by their use of digital media and expressed a desire to change their habits.
The agency published a report in June stating that high frequency of digital media use can result in poor sleep, depressive symptoms, and apprehension about one’s body.
The recent recommendations aim to “promote a better balance between screen time and other important parts of life such as physical activity, sleep and other health-promoting activities for children and young people, and to reduce exposure to inappropriate content,” the agency said.
Sweden isn’t the only European nation taking action.
Although this number dropped to four hours during the time of the study, it was still double the screen time recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Society.
For infants between 18 and 24 months, screen time “should be limited to watching educational programming with a caregiver,” the academy said. “Until 18 months of age, limit screen use to video chatting along with an adult.”
It suggests promoting “parental limits and transparency on screen time in schools by requiring schools receiving E-Rate subsidies to adopt a screen time policy as a condition of receiving federal funding.” The proposed legislation also calls for limiting children’s access to “distracting and addictive social media apps or websites.”
The measure received support from the American College of Pediatricians, the Family Policy Alliance, The Institute for Family Studies, and other groups.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposes the legislation, calling it “another misguided attempt to limit social media for teens.”