Mutlu Nese, Dinleyici Meltem
Department of Pediatrics, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir, TUR.
Department of Social Pediatrics, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir, TUR.
Cureus. 2024 Feb 19;16(2):e54444. doi: 10.7759/cureus.54444. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Due to the rapid advancement of technology, there has been a noteworthy increase in the diversity and abundance of activities involving children. The most effective methods to enhance and facilitate children's media interactions are to minimize, reduce, use with caution, and establish healthy patterns. We aimed to evaluate media exposure of children below five years of age.
This is a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study that was conducted between December 2017 and September 2019 in Eskişehir, Türkiye. To assess the frequency of electronic device usage among children under the age of five, including televisions, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, as well as its impact on their sleep patterns and physical measurements, and to evaluate families' understanding of the terms "screen time" and "back screen time," we developed a questionnaire.
We analyzed a total of 731 questionnaires: 334 (45.7%) were girls, 397 (54.3%) were boys, and the mean age was 33.55±16.37 months. Upon examining the technical equipment accessible to the children in our study, we found that 98.6% possessed a television, 96.9% owned a mobile phone, 54% had a laptop, 49.5% had a tablet, and 34.1% possessed a gaming console. The study revealed the following proportions of electronic devices in children's rooms: 13% televisions, 11.9% tablets, 7.4% laptops, and 7% mobile phones. There has been a substantial increase in the amount of time they spend watching television and playing computer games among children who have at least one sibling. There was a statistically significant disparity between the television viewing periods and the body mass index of children older than two years old. Additionally, we have seen a significant disparity in the presence of media devices in children's bedrooms and the subsequent impact on their sleep duration and patterns throughout both nighttime and daytime. Around 65.8% of parents did not know of the concept of screen time, while 88.4% of parents did not know of the concept of back screen time.
Parental compliance with the current guidelines for screen time is insufficient, among parents with children under the age of five, even though exposure to screens begins in the first months of life. Our analysis highlighted the necessity for parents to establish and enforce a unified and logical media usage policy for all children residing in the household. It is crucial to allocate sufficient time during the routine healthcare visit to discuss these recommendations.
由于技术的快速发展，涉及儿童的活动在多样性和丰富性方面有了显著增加。增强和促进儿童与媒体互动的最有效方法是尽量减少、降低、谨慎使用并建立健康模式。我们旨在评估五岁以下儿童的媒体接触情况。
这是一项前瞻性、观察性横断面研究，于2017年12月至2019年9月在土耳其埃斯基谢希尔进行。为了评估五岁以下儿童使用电子设备（包括电视、笔记本电脑、平板电脑和手机）的频率及其对睡眠模式和身体测量的影响，并评估家庭对“屏幕时间”和“后屏幕时间”术语的理解，我们编制了一份问卷。
我们共分析了731份问卷：334名（45.7%）为女孩，397名（54.3%）为男孩，平均年龄为33.55±16.37个月。在检查我们研究中儿童可使用的技术设备时，我们发现98.6%的儿童拥有电视，96.9%的儿童拥有手机，54%的儿童拥有笔记本电脑，49.5%的儿童拥有平板电脑，34.1%的儿童拥有游戏机。研究揭示了儿童房间中电子设备的以下比例：电视占13%，平板电脑占11.9%，笔记本电脑占7.4%，手机占7%。在至少有一个兄弟姐妹的儿童中，他们看电视和玩电脑游戏的时间大幅增加。两岁以上儿童的电视观看时长与体重指数之间存在统计学上的显著差异。此外，我们还发现儿童卧室中媒体设备的存在与随后对他们夜间和白天睡眠时间及模式的影响存在显著差异。约65.8%的家长不知道屏幕时间的概念，而88.4%的家长不知道后屏幕时间的概念。
尽管儿童在生命的头几个月就开始接触屏幕，但五岁以下儿童的家长对当前屏幕时间指南的遵守情况并不理想。我们的分析强调，家长有必要为家中所有儿童制定并实施统一且合理的媒体使用政策。在常规医疗就诊期间分配足够时间讨论这些建议至关重要。
