Families For Life | Here’s how less screen time nurtures healthier, happier kids!

Today, we use our digital devices for almost everything, and our children are no exception. However, spending too much time on screens does more harm to your child than what’s on the surface. That’s why reducing their screen use and encouraging them to spend more time in the real world is important to ensure your kids grow physically, mentally and socially healthy!

Read on to learn the benefits of reducing screen use for your child.

Improved language and academic performance

In the real world, children face dynamic, hands-on conversations and interactions. These can range from talking to strangers, helping with tasks outside your home, and navigating unplanned situations (like meeting new playmates), which the digital world often lacks. These interactions offer various opportunities to develop your child’s soft skills, such as conversation skills and learning social cues, and help expand their vocabulary.

Fewer distractions from screens also mean your child can focus on more important tasks like homework. Devoting more time to academic tasks can lead to better overall performance at school.

Improved physical health

Without a screen to entertain them, children will find ways to keep themselves occupied, often in unstructured or free play. With more opportunities to be physically active, your children reap the benefits, including better hand-eye coordination, stronger muscles, and a reduced risk of obesity. Your child can also develop better posture as they spend less time hunched over their tablets or laptops.

Studies have shown that better physical health contributes to helping your child manage their feelings and stress easily. This can help them grow into calm, resilient and confident adults later in life.

Better sleep quality

You may have heard that the blue light emitted by devices keeps you awake longer. It also applies to children, as blue light signals their body to reduce melatonin, the “sleepy” chemical that tells the body to relax.

Excessive screen use, including background screen use, also leads to ‘overstimulation’ in your child’s brain. This is especially true if your child watches content with high-contrast images, fast-moving visuals or loud music. This will disrupt your child’s sleep quality, as your child’s active brain will not allow their body to relax and fall asleep as scheduled.

Growing children need good quality sleep for their bodies to grow and minds to develop healthily. Less stimulation before bedtime allows your child to wind down and to switch off their brain, leading to better quality sleep.

Stronger decision-making

You may notice your child concentrates more easily when screen distractions are reduced. Without attractive visuals or noise to interrupt their thinking processes, your child can develop a deeper focus on the present. When they can understand what’s happening around them better, your child may also become more thoughtful and confident in making decisions at hand.

Balance is key

By curbing excessive screen use, you give your child room to foster stronger habits, better sleep patterns, and healthier social skills. However, the point here is not to cut out screen use entirely – this is almost impossible nowadays. Instead, by balancing time spent on screens with active time through play, crafts or activities, your child can thrive in both their digital and physical well-being.

To help parents like you set healthy screen use boundaries and open conversations around the importance of balancing screen time with your kids, we’ve created a resource page filled with easy, bite-sized tips to keep screen time in check. From handling challenging behaviour around devices to ideas for screen-free family activities, check out our Parent’s Guide to Digital Wellness and get started on your family’s digital wellness journey!

References:

https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/parent-hub/grow-well-sg/nurture-healthy-behaviours/#benefits-of-reducing-screen-use

https://yr.media/health/excessive-screen-time-weaker-language-skills-generation-alpha/

https://www.singhealth.com.sg/symptoms-treatments/healthy-screen-use-for-young-children

https://www.nkchealth.org/blog/less-screen-time-is-key-to-better-sleep-in-kids

https://thechild.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/07/EI_002_CHILD_Impact-of-Screen-Viewing-on-Cognitive-Development_For-Circulation-digital.pdf