Should Parents Allow Their Children Use Smartphones and Tablets? The Issue of Screen Time for Recreational Activities
نویسندگان
1 MVLS College, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
2 Department of Radiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
3 Department of Pediatric, School of Medicine, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran
4 Department of Nutrition Sciences, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran
5 Department of Anesthesiology, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
6 Clinical Research Development Unit, Valiasr Hospital, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
7 Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
8 Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
9 Department of Computer Engineering, Sharif University, Tehran, Iran
10 Student Research Committee, School of Rehabilitation, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
11 Department of Speech Pathology, School of Rehabilitation, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
12 Mother and Child Welfare Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
doi
10.31661/jbpe.v0i0.535چکیده
Previous research has shown that children are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) and blue light emitted from digital screens compared to healthy adults. This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional study conducted in Yasuj, Iran, to investigate the screen time habits of children and adolescents and its potential impact on their health. A total of 63 participants, including 44 boys and 19 girls, were randomly selected for the study. The results showed that the average daily screen time for the children was 87.38 minutes, with a standard deviation of 49.58. When examining the specific purposes of screen time, it was found that the children spent an average of 17.54 minutes per day on screens for school assignments, 70 minutes per day for recreational purposes, and 23.41 minutes per day for contacting family, friends, and relatives. Our study highlights that a significant portion of the children’s screen time was allocated to recreational activities. We observed some differences in screen time between girls and boys. Boys had a slightly higher overall daily screen time, primarily driven by more recreational screen time. However, girls spent slightly more time on screens for school assignments. The screen time for social interactions was similar for both genders. Our findings on the cognitive performance of children with different levels of screen time will be published in a separate paper.
