The duration of time spent on screen of electronic or digital media like mobile phones or television, etc is defined as screen-time. Digital media expansion and COVID 19 pandemic has made children more inclined towards screen time as compared to physical activity.
Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study on children aged 2–5years was conducted for 1 year. (2021 – 2022). Parents were asked to self-fill a designed questionnaire. Impacts on physical and mental health were assessed by paediatrician and psychologist.
Results: 650 children (354 boys, 296 girls) participated in the study. Mean parental screen time was 6.4 hrs. ±2.32 and 4.95 ± 2.34 hrs for children. 98.75 % children had screen time more than that recommended for age. Children were exposed to screen time at tender age of 3 months. Covid 19 increased screen time by more than 1 hour in 92% of children. Most common gadget used was mobile phones (n=628,96.6%) followed by television (n=511, 78.7%). Screen time had negligible effect (p=0.611) on nutritional status of children. However, it had significant effect on psychosocial behaviour (p=0.05), ophthalmologic problems (p=0.03) sleep cycle (p=0.00) and academic performance (p=0.002). Fathers’ occupation (p=0.00), age of onset of screen time (p=0.00), parental setting of time limit for screen time (p=0.009) were significant contributors to increase screen time.
Conclusion: Findings suggest poor awareness among parents/caregivers regarding negative impact of high screen time on children along with abnormal psychological behaviour among children when they were stopped from accessing screen. A higher level of evidence can be generated in future by conducting longitudinal follow up studies.