Why should children limit technology use?

Limiting the time children sit in front of the screen will help improve their health and well-being, helping to bring better learning results and more appropriate behaviors.

While many parents have been able to easily see the beneficial effects of limiting the amount of time children spend on mobile devices, many other parents are still unable to see why they should do so. The University of Iowa study has shown the basic benefits of limiting the amount of time children spend using electronic devices.

The most obvious benefit of limiting the use of electronic devices is that they will reduce their exposure to violent content. Most importantly, when they have limited time to use technology, they will gradually sleep better, behave and achieve better results in schools, reduce body mass index BMI and reduce the risk of obesity. .

However, the benefits will be very slow, and since parents cannot see these changes clearly, they will not be able to manage their time."As parents, we don't even notice that our children are growing up every day, which is obvious. With digital media, we often just pay attention and look for phenomena that have little harm, for example, you don't gain weight, making the benefits of limiting the amount of time your child uses technology becomes unnoticeable " - Mr. Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology at Iowa State, the lead author of the study said.

As a result of this study (made on about 1,300 children in grades 4 and 5), Iowa State University said that pediatricians need to go in and make recommendations about time limits. Technology equipment to parents."We hope pediatricians will better understand the effectiveness of counseling for parents [on the issue of limiting technology use]. Even if only 10% of parents To follow the words of pediatricians, there will be millions of children with better health if they will do so. "

Earlier, the American Academy of Pediatrics also conducted a study on children 8-10 years old and concluded that they spend up to 8 hours a day on different digital media. In older children, this number can be up to 11 hours. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents should completely prohibit and allow children under 2 years of age to use technology equipment, while also keeping the use of electronic devices under 2 hours / Day for all other ages. The organization also recommends that parents provide a reasonable "information mode" to select the appropriate types of content for them.