Screen exposure time of children under 6 years old: a French cross-sectional survey in general practices in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

The Impact of Screen Time on Sleep Patterns in School-Aged Children: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

BACKGROUND

In a world filled with technology, there's concern about the impact of screen time on children and teenagers. A recent study of 11,875 children aged nine to 10 in the US explored how screen time affects mental health, behaviour, school performance, sleep, and friendships. The results indicate that more screen time is mildly linked to worse mental health, more behaviour problems, lower academic performance, and poorer sleep, but slightly better peer relationships. However, these connections were weak, with socioeconomic status (SES) having a stronger influence on these outcomes. The study doesn't prove that screen time causes these issues, suggesting that increased screen time might not be directly harmful to children in this age group. The research adds to the understanding of how screen time impacts children's well-being and highlights the importance of promoting healthy habits. Our study aims to add to this literature by examining how screen time impacts sleep quality, dream recall, and academic performance in school-aged children. Understanding the potential consequences of screen time is crucial for promoting healthy habits and ensuring the overall well-being of children. Our research seeks to provide further insights into the relationship between screen time and key aspects of children's lives as its prevalence continues to rise.

METHODS

The research incorporates a cohort of 1000 school-aged children, bifurcated evenly into two categories based on their daily screen exposure: a low screen time group (less than one hour daily, n = 500) and a high screen time group (over three hours daily, n = 500). The study probes into the correlation between screen time and various health parameters, such as sleep patterns, dream recall, and academic prowess.

RESULTS

The analysis showed that children with low screen time had better sleep efficiency (90% vs. 75%), more frequent dream recall (70% vs. 30%), fewer nocturnal awakenings (0.5 vs. 1.5 times weekly), less daytime sleepiness (20% vs. 60%), and higher physical activity levels (60 vs. 30 minutes per day) compared to those with high screen time. They also had less weekend sleep variability (1.2 hours) and a lower risk of circadian rhythm disturbances (20% increased risk in the high screen time group). Additionally, a screen-free bedroom was more common in the low screen time group (85% vs. 30%), and parental involvement in sleep routines was higher (90% vs. 40%). Academically, the low screen time group achieved higher grades ('A' to 'A+' vs. 'B'), and they had more face-to-face social interactions (two vs. one hour per day).

CONCLUSION

Escalating screen time is correlated with detrimental impacts on sleep efficiency, dream recall, physical activity, circadian rhythms, and academic performance in school-aged children. Fostering a screen-free bedroom environment and augmenting parental involvement in sleep routines may alleviate these adverse effects.

Digital Devices Use and Fine Motor Skills in Children between 3-6 Years

(1) Background: The principal aim of our research was to explore the relationship between digital devices use and fine motor skills in children aged three to six years and to explore the effect of some socio-demographic factors. (2) Methods: we enrolled 185 children aged between three to six years. The parents of all the participants fulfilled a questionnaire to explore the digital device use, and their children performed a standardized test to assess fine motor skills (APCM-2). We performed the Spearman correlation test to explore the relationship between different variables. (3) Results: the children spent an average of 3.08 ± 2.30 h/day on digital devices. We did not find a significant association between the time of use of digital devices and fine motor skills (p = 0.640; r = -0.036). The youngest children experienced digital tools earlier than older ones (p < 0.001; r = 0.424) and they were also the ones who used digital tools more time afterwards (p = 0.012; -0.202). The children who had working parents spent more time on digital devices (p = 0.028; r = 0.164/p = 0.037; r = 0.154) and used digital devices earlier (p = 0.023; r = 0.171). (4) Conclusions: This data suggest that it would be useful to monitor the use of digital tools, especially in the very first years of life. Future studies are needed to further explore this topic.