THURSDAY, April 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Screen time for children younger than 5 should be limited to one hour a day, and those younger than 1 year should get no screen time at all, new World Health Organization guidelines say.
The WHO’s first guidelines on the topic are similar to recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Video chats should be the only screen time allowed for children younger than 18 months, according to the AAP. It also recommends that children younger than 2 view only “high-quality programming” with educational value that can be watched with a parent to help children understand what they are seeing.
“Improving physical activity, reducing sedentary time, and ensuring quality sleep in young children will improve their physical, mental health and well-being, and help prevent childhood obesity and associated diseases later in life,” Fiona Bull, Ph.D., program manager for surveillance and population-based prevention of noncommunicable diseases at the WHO, said in a statement.
More Information: WHO
More Information: AAP
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