Should screens be banned for children under 3 years old? In any case, this is what an expert report submitted to Emmanuel Macron this Tuesday April 30 recommends, warning in particular of the dangers they represent for the health of the youngest. And many of them would believe the studies that have followed one another in recent years on the subject, from sleep disorders to a sedentary lifestyle to mental health disorders.
Ban screens for children under 3 years old, mobile phones for children under 11 years old, and social networks for adolescents under 15 years old. Here is in essence what the commission of experts commissioned by the President of the Republic to respond to the problem of screens recommends, and whose report has just been relayed by several French media. If it is only “a form of guide”, as one of its authors clarified on RTL, this report recalls the consequences that the use of screens can have on the health of children. A question at the heart of scientific research for several years, suggesting consequences for both their physical and mental health.
An impact on sleep
Researchers are almost unanimous on the subject: screens significantly influence children's sleep, and in a negative way. Work carried out with more than 5,000 American adolescents has notably shown that the increase in time spent in front of a screen during the Covid-19 pandemic was associated with later bedtimes and getting up times, leading researchers to ask for the establishment of recommendations on the time spent in front of certain media depending on the age of the child.
Same observation – or almost – in a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, which suggested that interactive engagement (text messages or video games) was more harmful to sleep than television in adolescents. While such conclusions may vary from one study to another, the effects of smartphones, tablets, and other computers on the sleep of young people do seem to exist.
An increase in body mass index?
Who says screens, often means a sedentary lifestyle, and by extension an increase in obesity. This is also suggested by numerous studies which have looked at the impact of time spent in front of screens on a sedentary lifestyle, or even on snacking. Research presented in 2021 in the journal Pediatric Obesity notably showed that children who spent more time in front of screens at the age of 9-10 were more likely to gain weight a year later.
An observation which could be linked, according to the researchers, to the lack of physical activity induced by the use of screens, but also to the exposure of younger people to food advertisements which could encourage excessive snacking. A more recent study, dating from 2022, indicates that reducing the time spent in front of a screen made it possible to increase physical activity in children.
Mental health disorders
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in seven adolescents aged 10 to 19 suffers from a mental health disorder (anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders). If we rely on scientific studies on the issue, it seems that screens are likely to be the cause, or at least to aggravate, some of these disorders.
A longitudinal study notably showed in 2021 that children who spent the most time in front of screens presented significantly higher mental health symptoms during the health crisis. Previous work, published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, also revealed that social media, television and computer use were associated with increased levels of anxiety in adolescents, while video games were not.
No scientific consensus
Be careful, however, if a review of the scientific literature on screens tends to point out their harmful effects on health, we cannot speak – far from it – of a consensus. Research published in 2022 in JAMA Psychiatry notably highlighted a link between time spent in front of screens and behavioral problems in children aged 12 and under, but while specifying that this was “weak “. More recently, a team of researchers led by Inserm has, without minimizing them, also nuanced these harmful effects on cognitive development. Published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the study concludes in particular that “Screen time is not the only factor to consider: the context in which screen use takes place could also be an important factor. In addition, not all areas of cognition would be affected in the same way.“.
Last November, a large study carried out among some two million people also caused a lot of ink to flow. At the origin of this work, researchers from the University of Oxford explained that they had not been able to demonstrate any damage to mental health caused by the use of the internet. “We studied the most comprehensive data on well-being and internet adoption ever captured, both over time and demographically. Although we were unable to determine the causal effects of Internet use, our descriptive results indicate weak and inconsistent associations.“, then indicated the authors of the study.
