Guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend severely restricting children’s screen time to promote children’s health. Media researchers in Sweden, however, have dismissed the guidelines as “unrealistic” and contributed to the ongoing debate with a study on the digital everyday life of families with young children.
In 2019, the WHO published guidelines suggesting that children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to screen activities at all, and screen time should not exceed one hour a day for those between the ages of two and five. The Swedish Pediatric Association echoed this view with their own general recommendations in October 2023. The Public Health Agency, tasked with an investigation into children’s health by the government, is also set to publish guidelines by 2025.
Media and Communications professors at the universities of Lund, Malmö, and Ebba, refer to this zero-tolerance policy as unrealistic and disconnected from the realities of everyday life in a report published this month.
The study, DIGIKIDS Sweden, consisted of observing and interviewing 16 families with young children to understand the effects of digital media consumption and restrictions on children between the ages of 0 and 3. Visits to the families included filming a child for a whole day from when they wake up until bedtime.
The “rise to feelings of guilt and shame”
Leading the study, Helena Sanberg argued that the guidance from WHO and Swedish doctors lacks evidence and exaggerates the damage caused by digital exposure at a young age, resulting in a “moral panic and alarmism” that does not do anything to support parents of young children seeking advice.
For example, Swedish pediatrician Hugo Lagercrantz’s warning that screentime is linked to obesity, inhibited language development, and concentration problems, was criticized by Sandberg as inflammatory language fueled by weak evidence.
According to DIGIKIDS, the WHO guidelines fail to take into account social and cultural context. Sandberg emphasizes that it is unhelpful to compare Sweden with the United States, a country with one of the highest obesity rates in the world and therefore with more reason to be concerned about the sedentary lifestyle that comes with excessive digital media consumption.
Sweden has different social and cultural attitudes towards children’s upbringing which needs to be considered when monitoring the use of digital media for the professors. Moreover, the study highlights that many children are already exposed to digital media in preschools, regardless of whether parents introduce technology at home.
Schoolbooks reintroduced to reduce screen time
However, steps are already being taken to reduce screen time in these regulated environments due to the center-right government ensuring that textbooks are reintroduced by August 2023, following attempts at digitization in October 2022.
The study observed that many parents, conscious of the dangers of overexposure and inactivity associated with media consumption, already supervise digital media use. Digital media technology has become a fundamental part of modern family life and Sanberg emphasizes that WHO fails to distinguish between different media that children consume and their potential benefits on children’s development.
The professors also found that children use educational apps as well as games. Imposing strict recommendations “gives rise to feelings of guilt and shame” rather than fostering the support needed for parents striving to navigate technology’s role as a valuable educational tool. Offering more nuanced and evidence-based guidelines, along with advice for parents introducing technology, could significantly enhance the positive impact on children’s learning experiences.
Nonetheless, recent reports on the physical health of children in Sweden highlight the need for action to prevent the increase of sedentary lifestyles.
In 2022, a report found a lack of progress in Swedish children’s levels of physical activity, with only 12–32% of 11–17-year-olds adhering to the recommended limit of less than two hours a day of screentime. This finding suggests that although the DIGIKIDS study demonstrates the parents’ capabilities in monitoring digital media consumption of 0–3‑year-olds, greater action is needed to mitigate excessive screen time in older children.
