From the Guidelines
Screen time for infants watching sports is not recommended, as it can hinder their developmental progress and the American Academy of Pediatrics advises no screen time for children under 18-24 months, except for video chatting with family 1. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) emphasizes the importance of direct interactions with parents and caregivers for healthy brain growth in infants and toddlers.
- Infants learn best through direct human interaction, physical play, and exploring their environment.
- Screen time can potentially interfere with crucial developmental activities like tummy time, crawling, and face-to-face communication.
- It may also impact sleep quality and attention development. Instead of watching sports on screens, consider involving infants in age-appropriate physical activities, describing sports actions verbally, or using sports-themed toys.
- If you occasionally watch sports with your infant present, try to make it interactive by narrating what's happening and limiting the duration. As children grow older, screen time guidelines become more flexible, but for infants, prioritizing screen-free activities is best for their cognitive and physical development, as supported by the AAP's recommendations to limit entertainment media per day and avoid TV- and video-viewing for children younger than 2 years 1.
From the Research
Screen Time for Infants
- The Indian Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children below 2 years of age should not be exposed to any type of screen 2.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises against screen time for infants younger than 2 years, with studies showing that excessive screen time during infancy has been linked to delays in language, literacy, and self-regulation 3.
- A review of the effects of infant media usage found that no studies have demonstrated benefits associated with early infant TV viewing, and the preponderance of existing evidence suggests the potential for harm 4.
Health Consequences of Screen Time
- Excessive screen time viewing has been correlated with increased risk for obesity and other cardiometabolic risk factors, mental health, unhealthy dietary habits and eating disorders, and problems in development and child-parent relationships 5.
- Sleep, physical activity, eyesight, headaches, and the musculoskeletal system can also be negatively affected by excessive screen time 5.
- The type of media used and the way types of media are used can weigh the effect of screen time, with other confounding factors also reported 5.
Guidelines for Screen Time
- The World Health Organization has published guidelines to limit daily screen time viewing, with the aim of reducing the health consequences of excessive screen time 5.
- Parents and caregivers should be aware of these guidelines and take steps to ensure that infants and young children are not exposed to excessive screen time, including monitoring screen use and ensuring that the content being watched is educational, age-appropriate, and non-violent 2, 3.
- Healthcare providers can play a role in educating parents and caregivers about the importance of limiting screen time and providing guidance on how to do so 6.