Science-backed guidance for healthy screen time

We’re all aware – and wary – of doomscrolling. Lots of screen time can be bad for us. But what if that’s not always the case? We spoke with the author of a study that found a positive relationship between screen time and brain development in young people. This episode, we sort through what to actually worry about when it comes to screen time – and what guidelines already exist that can empower you and the kids in your life. Interested in learning more about how screen time affects your brain? Email us your question at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org http://plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

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• 0:17Speaker 01

  Hey, everyone. Regina Barber here with a request. Follow us on whatever app you're listening to us from. We love sharing cool and important science stories with you, and following us means you'll always know when our next episode is ready for you, just like this one.

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  You're listening to Short Wave from NPR.

• 0:37Speaker 02

  Hey, Gina, I got a personal question for you.

• 0:39Speaker 01

  Yes.

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  As a parent, how do you feel about your kid's screen time?

• 0:45Speaker 01

  I was raised by TV, so I didn't limit it at all.

• 0:49Speaker 02

  OK.

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  She asked me herself to limit her screen time when she was 10. How about you, Nate? I mean, are you judging me? Like, how do you feel about screen time with your toddler?

• 0:56Speaker 02

  I have learned to not judge any parent on their choices because we're all on a journey together.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  That's right. It's hard.

• 1:03Speaker 02

  I mean, listen, my kid loves Bluey. Yeah, we do like a little Saturday morning cartoon thing because it makes me very nostalgic. I used to watch Saturday morning cartoons, and we'll watch Bluey for a little bit. And, you know, it's a good way to get your snuggles, have your milk. But yeah, you know, we try to avoid screen time as much as possible because, I don't know, like, the impression I've always got is that screen time is bad, right? Which is why

• 1:26Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  I was so surprised and wanted to talk to you about this recent study that suggests that screen time might not totally be bad for kids.

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  Screens, they can include and promote active thinking, problem solving and creativity and learning that could theoretically improve cognition.

• 1:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, so that's Petri Yalanco. He's a researcher and exercise physiologist at the Sports Medicine Faculty at the Helsinki Sports and Exercise Medicine Clinic. Petri and his fellow researchers wanted to understand which kinds of activities had the biggest impact on kids' memory and cognition. So they followed a group of kids over the course of eight years, measuring things like their physical activity levels and how much time they spent sitting or staring at screens.

• 2:15Speaker 03

  And I guess the key result that really has drawn the attention is that the higher cumulative self-reported screen time was associated with quicker responses on the working memory tasks and also with better over cognition.

• 2:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, so they found, actually, a positive link between kids' screen time and overall cognitive performance in teens.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, that sounds a little too good to be true. Maybe it depends on what they are watching.

• 2:46Speaker 02

  Yes, I think it's maybe too good to be true. Maybe. Because, yeah, I think as parents, we get a lot of mixed messages about what the appropriate amount of screen time is, so.

• 2:56Speaker 01

  We are journalists. Be skeptical.

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  As skeptical journalists, you and me, Gina.

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  Yes.

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  We are going to dig in to the study and also talk to other researchers to help us understand what we should actually worry about when it comes to screen time and our kids.

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  Nate to the rescue.

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  So today on the show, what really matters when it comes to screen time for kids and adults. I'm Nate Rot.

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  And I'm Regina Barber. You're listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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• 4:55Speaker 01

  OK, Nate, I, for real, am dying to know more about the implications of Petri's study. Does this mean that more screen time could be making kids smarter, maybe?

• 5:05Speaker 02

  Well, I wouldn't go that far, Gina.

• 5:07Speaker 03

  So it doesn't mean that screen time causes better cognition. So there might be some confounding factors with the association.

• 5:19Speaker 02

  Association being the key word there, you hear?

• 5:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know. I was dreaming. Screen time isn't going to magically improve our kids' brain development. Is that what he's saying?

• 5:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, like, we don't want to overstate the benefits here. There is no causal effect between screen time and cognitive performance. That being said, this research does suggest that the kid's screen time in and of itself, like, isn't inherently a bad thing. So Petri says what ultimately matters is how kids are engaging with this technology.

• 5:47Speaker 03

  I think we shouldn't, we shouldn't panic about the screens in general, but we should be, you know, intentional, you know, choosing high-quality content, educational content, co-use that with, you know, with parents, and making sure that, you know, the screens are replacing first, like, sleep, active play, or, you know, that kind of like a real-world interaction.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, this is so validating, Nate, because I remember when she was younger, and yeah, I was letting my kid watch all this TV. I was mostly just, like, letting her watch it with me.

• 6:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's interactive.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  It was educational. I wasn't imposing any, you know, strict limitations. And maybe that's what he's saying here. It's more about, like, setting healthy digital habits as a family? Is that what people should be thinking about?

• 6:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, when it comes to screen time, I think a good way to think about it is you are what you watch.

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  You know, screen time is not a single exposure. It's not just watching TikTok short TikTok videos. There can be some educational content that can actually improve cognition.

• 6:55Speaker 02

  So while Petri's study didn't get into the different ways that kids use their screens, we know that there is a difference between doom scrolling and, you know, for example, watching a PBS show.

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  Or my kid, when she was little, watching this Backyardigans episode. I think it helped her with her attention span.

• 7:11Speaker 02

  Gina, you don't have to convince me. Listen, I believe you. If that show was really educational, yes. And Petri agrees.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  OK, so us parents, we should focus on the quality of screen time. That's, that's the message here.

• 7:23Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 7:23Speaker 01

  But Nate, limiting my kid's media diet to educational content feels, I mean, pretty close to impossible. Like, what else can I do?

• 7:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, so Petri said building healthy digital habits is all about being intentional. And luckily, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a framework to help you do that. It's called the five Cs of media use. The first C is for child, as in your child. There's no such thing as a universal formula for screen time because, you know, every kid has different needs.

• 7:54Speaker 05

  Every child is different. They have their own personalities. They have their own strengths. They respond to digital media differently. So you have to look at it numerous ways. If we just focus on quantity and we say, oh, but it's great quality. They're doing things that are active. It takes away from the fact it's still not prioritizing the basic fundamentals that we need.

• 8:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's Asha Patton-Smith, a board-certified psychiatrist with Kaiser Permanente. And she personally uses this framework with her patients and families.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  OK, so, so what's the second C?

• 8:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, so the second C, Gina, is for content, which relates to Petri's point about the quality of screen time. So check in with what your kids are consuming. Like, it doesn't have to be all educational content all of the time, but there are layers here.

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  What's not helpful is that type of content that doesn't require any child to make any decisions or engage in any type of active content and can be harmful. And that's the algorithm-driven content, the endless short-form videos that can negatively affect attention spans.

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  The third C, Gina, is calm.

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  How well is your child handling their emotions when they're on a screen, when they're coming off a screen? That's important information to see how they're dealing with their digital media consumption on a regular basis.

• 9:20Speaker 01

  I feel so seen.

• 9:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

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  As an adult.

• 9:23Speaker 02

  Yeah. We're here for you and I to feel seen, Gina, and every other parent out there. The fourth C is one that really stood out to me in particular.

• 9:31Speaker 05

  The fourth is crowding out. If screen time is taking you away from sleep, interacting with people in real life, from mindful movement and exercise, then it's not helpful for you. It's not serving you because these three foundational things are key.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, that seems like the most useful one because it might be hard to, like, monitor exactly how long your kid's on the phone or what she's seeing on social media. But it's definitely easier to gauge whether she's sleeping or not, or she's going out and talking to her friends, or even talking to you.

• 10:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, going outside, doing, like, living life in the real world. And Asha says to keep an eye out for your kid's sleep in particular. That's a really key point.

• 10:12Speaker 05

  We need to make sure that we're prioritizing sleep for ourselves and our kids. And we know medically, regardless of what studies come out, that prioritizing sleep will improve attention and cognition, decrease the risk of depression and anxiety, improve the ability to be able to get things done, improve overall executive functioning.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  OK, so to recap, we have to keep an eye on our kids' media diet, their moods, and their sleep. But Nate, I think we're missing one C, right? There's one more C?

• 10:47Speaker 02

  There is one more C, the fifth C, and that is communication. So as parents, we have to regularly check with our kids about their digital experiences. So what are they seeing when they're online? And really, how do they feel about it?

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  We have to maintain regular, nonjudgmental conversations about general online safety, how to navigate healthy digital boundaries, and co-viewing content with your kids. So helping them in real time navigate what they're doing digitally.

• 11:17Speaker 02

  And remember, Gina, communication is a two-way street. So it's not just about checking in. You also have to, this is important, model healthy digital habits as well.

• 11:27Speaker 05

  You can show them better than you can tell them. What indeed are you modeling with regard to appropriate, healthy digital boundaries?

• 11:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. So Gina, the important thing here is just, you know, put down your phone. And not just for your kids' sake, because a psychiatrist, Lamont Moss, told me, the more time adults spend online, the higher their levels of anxiety and depression.

• 11:52Speaker 06

  It's everything from being on the internet, comparing ourselves to others. It's from choosing to be, to have that as a source of interaction, as opposed to doing activities that are more therapeutic for, for the individual, be it getting outside, be it interacting with people on an individual basis, or even just having more time to rest and relax.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  OK, so I knew I had a right to be a little suspicious about screen time. But overall, this, you know, this is good.

• 12:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, this all goes back to my earlier question, which is how do we make sense of all of these studies? And the reality is, there's no one right answer, which might seem unsatisfying. But it's true, you know, reducing screen time looks different for everyone. It's a holistic approach where screen time doesn't take time from your day to prevent you from better health, whether that's going outside and exercising, as we just heard, or hanging out with friends. Here's Lamont again.

• 12:51Speaker 06

  Finding ways of either designating time to have your smartphone and then having time where you don't interact with it is of great benefit. I anecdotally will have my patients do simple things where if they're in the car, put your phone in the bag or put it in your back pocket. That way, you actually can't physically grab it, because we have a tendency to, to want to grab it, because it's become a habit for us to have it close by.

• 13:18Speaker 01

  Nate, thank you so much for bringing us these findings. My kid is back to school now, so I should definitely have a conversation with her. But honestly, I'm going to focus more on just not looking at my phone so much and just putting it away when she's around.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's been my big takeaway, too. I'm going to just put the phone away.

• 13:35Speaker 01

  Just put it away.

• 13:39Speaker 02

  So Gina, I was happy to talk to you about all this, because for me, it feels very validating to hear that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with screen time in children. And now, we can all, hopefully, parent with a little more scientific backing behind us.

• 13:53Speaker 01

  Yes, that's what I used to say I was doing, but now I really am.

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  This episode was reported and produced by Juan Diego Ramirez. It was edited by Lauren Gonzalez and Rebecca Ramirez.

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  Tyler Jones checked the facts. Jimmy Keely is the audio engineer. I'm Nate Rott.

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  And I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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