The battle to get Australian children off their screens and into trees is one being waged in households all around Australia. But, how much screen time is too much time?
Kelli Divers is many things to many people. A busy farmer, employer and wife, she is also the cherished mother to three boisterous boys – aged 11, 10 and seven – the eldest of whom has
special needs.
A qualified solicitor and barrister, 46-year-old Divers believes parenting is a privilege not a right and for this reason she works hard at ensuring her children enjoy an age-appropriate lifestyle incorporating a healthy diet, a duty list of chores, lots of outdoor time and plenty of creative play.
Yet despite her best efforts to ensure her children remain engaged and attune to the world around them, and the fact they are prevented from owning gaming devices, Divers says limiting the amount of screen time her children enjoy is a constant battle.
Early risers whose day begins around 7am and ends around 12 hours later, Divers limits her children to two hours a day in front of the television or using their personal iPads.
But, if given the opportunity, she says her boys – all of whom are involved in a number of extracurricular sporting and other after school activities – would spend all day perched in front of their screens.
While she sees the merit in her eldest son who has a movement and coordination disorder requiring time “for his little brain to switch off” and the fact she is also able to leverage screen time as a punishment for bad behaviour, she believes even the 120 minutes her boys are allowed to “chill out” in front of the TV or their tablets each day is time that could be much better spent.
“I still think even an hour and a half a day is too much. I’d much rather them being boys, being outside running around or riding their bikes rather than sitting there sedentary.”
Guidelines provided by the Department of Health suggest that children under 18 months should avoid screen time with video-chatting being the only exception. Those aged between 18 months to two years should be able to watch or use “high quality” programs or apps only if adults watch or play with them to help them understand what they’re seeing.
The department recommends that children aged between two and five years should have no more than one hour a day of screen time with adults watching or playing with them while children aged six years and older should have “consistent limits” on the time they spend on electronic media and the types of media they use.
And it seems that while Divers is doing all the right things when it comes to limiting the time her children are spending in front of screens, she has a right to be concerned.
The federal government-supported parenting website Raising Children Network (RCN) says having too much screen time can have physical, developmental, safety and other risks for children which can manifest as sore, irritated dry eyes, headaches and fatigue. Too much screen time can also have an impact on children’s language development and social skills and can affect their ability to have conversations, maintain eye contact, pay attention in school or read body language.
Not forgetting of course, the fact there is an increased chance that they may encounter dangerous material or people on the internet or that screen-based media can impact children and their behaviour where they can be influenced by things such as stereotypical representations of gender or advertising.
“If you reduce the amount of time your child spends using screens, you can reduce the risks for your child,” RCN says.
SCREEN TIME USE: IN NUMBERS
- TV is children’s main form of screen time, accounting for about 60% of total screen time
- By 13 years of age, the daily average was 150 minutes watching TV compared to 60 minutes on a computer and 45 minutes gaming
- TV viewing is higher on weekends than on weekdays
- Children who watch TV for more than two hours a day are more likely to have:
- parents with low levels of education
- a TV in their bedroom; and
- no household rules limiting TV viewing
- The more TVs there are in a house, the more likely a child is to watch excessive TV
- Around 60% of four to five-year olds reported having more than two household TVs
- Around 20% of six to seven year-olds have a TV in their bedroom; at 12–13 years old, this climbs to 45%
- As children get older, their computer and electronic game time increases. The percentage of children spending at least one hour per weekday on a computer or gaming increases from 25% at six years of age to 53% by 11 years. This may be due to increased availability of devices, but perhaps also to increased computer-based homework
- Children spend more time on computers and games on the weekend. Boys play more games than girls, with 85% of 12–13-year-boys gaming for at least an hour per weekend day, compared to 58% of girls
SOURCE: The Australian Institute of Family Studies ‘Growing Up in Australia’ report.
The Importance of Physical Literacy
Children who practice too much sedentary behaviours, are at a greater risk of being overweight or obese. Encouraging children to be active each day establishes good habits that can stay with them throughout their lives.
As any parent worth their salt will tell you the key to getting your kids to live a long and healthy life cannot be found while sitting on a couch staring at a screen. Ensuring your children develop healthy habits early through eating well, regularly participating exercise, and enjoying plenty of sleep will not only help your children’s weight, but also reduce stress and arguments, making for a more harmonious home.A national report released by the Heart Foundation and titled the Active Healthy Kids Australia Report Card, found that 80 per cent of Australian children are not meeting the recommended levels of daily physical activity.
According to the 2016 report, only 19 per cent of Australian children and young people aged five to 17 years and 18 per cent of Australian young people aged 12 to 17 years meet the national daily physical activity guidelines of accumulating at least 60 minutes of MVPA every day of the week.
By making an effort to incorporate better health and fitness and practices under your home, you are promoting healthy growth and development and helping to ensure your children build strong bones, muscles and joints.
The Department of Health says there are some activities such as reading, doing school work, working on a computer or travelling that may need to be done while you are sitting, but the key to find a healthy balance is to stand up and look for opportunities to move whenever you can.
Active families
Healthy Kids, a joint initiative between the state arms of the Ministry of Health, the Department of Education, the Office of Sport and the Health Foundation, says if you’d like your screen-obsessed child to be healthy, you have to start by looking at yourself and your family. While it will take some effort to maintain, visiting playgrounds, parks, beaches or staging a dance competition in your lounge room and trying out new activities can prove rewarding.
Making family activities part of everyday living
Frequently the biggest hurdle to family activity is finding the time but it is a misconception to believe that you need to be introducing new activities all the time in order for it to be effective. Instead, Healthy Kids suggests you will be far more successful by incorporating a few key activities into your daily life in a balanced way. These may include walking or riding a bike with your children to and from school, encouraging children to help with household chores such as walking the dog or mowing the lawn, going for a family walk after dinner or keeping a frisbee, skipping rope or scooters in your car at all times.
Organisation is key
Just like some children require more shepherding than others, some activities require more organisation than others. But nothing good ever came easy so it’s always worthwhile putting in the effort. Healthy Kids suggests the best way is to plan ahead and schedule a regular time for physical activity that fits in with the whole family. You may also like to consider taking part in either organised sport or activities – such as kite flying – in the park. This tends to work best at weekends. Planning family holidays with a view to being active is also a great idea, Healthy Kids says.
Don’t quit at the first hurdle Healthy Kids says it’s easy to let your enthusiasm carry you away at the beginning then let it slip as it becomes more routine. To avoid this happening, it says you should consider choosing activities the whole family will enjoy.