Do you own a screen-based device?

How about a small child?

If you said yes to both, chances are the two of those things have met at some point. And don’t get me wrong - I know my kids have certainly watched stuff on my phone or laptop or computer or television as well.

But the key question is - for how long?

Well there are two concerns when it comes to screen time: the impact on our development and what it is doing to our posture.

A 2019 study by Madigan et al looked at what happens to kids when they are exposed to excessive screen time. They didn’t state what this level is, but the researchers found that the more screen time a child had, the worse they performed on an academic scale at 3- and 5-years of age. This is a concern as the brain is still developing at these stages!

Furthermore, the authors also pointed out that if a child is watching a screen, then they are less likely to be doing that stuff that is good for kids - activity! The Australian Government has guidelines on recommended levels of activity, and a 5-year old child should be getting at least 180 minutes of activity per day, and NO MORE than ONE HOUR of screen time in a 24-hour period!