Status quo of screen exposure and its determinants in 3- to 6-year-old children in Minhang district, Shanghai / 中国儿童保健杂志

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To investigate the screen exposure status in 3- to 6-year-old children in Minhang district and to analyze its determinants, so as to provide a basis for scientific intervention of screen exposure in children. 【Methods】 A total of 1 035 children aged 3 to 6 years were selected from 30 classes in 10 kindergartens in Minhang district by multi-stage cluster sampling in October 2022. An online questionnaire survey was conducted by their parents. Screen exposure was difined as spending more than one hour on video products per day. Multivariate Logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the determinants of children screen exposure. 【Results】 Among 1 035 children, 730 experienced screen exposure (70.53%). The average time of daily screen exposure was (1.67±0.98)h. The daily screen exposure time of children aged 3, 4, 5 and 6 years at weekends was (1.77±1.13), (1.76±1.04), (1.98±1.10)h and(2.08±1.22)h, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (F=3.98, P2hours/day (OR=2.10, 95%CI1.35 - 3.27) when accompanying children, parents supporting children using video products(OR=1.59, 95%CI1.17 - 2.15), children using video products before bedtime(OR=1.94, 95%CI1.32 - 2.86), and unsupervised use of video products for children(OR=1.94, 95%CI1.36 - 2.77) were independent risk factors for children′s screen exposure(P<0.05). Father′s education level of bachelor(OR=0.61,95%CI0.43 - 0.89), master and above(OR=0.49, 95%CI0.34 - 0.73) was a protective factor for children′s screen exposure(P<0.05). 【Conclusions】 Attention should be paid to the problem of screen exposure of 3 -to 6 - year-old children. Targeted efforts should be made to popularize the knowledge of the harm of early screen exposure to children among caregivers, caregivers are advocated for the rule formulation of screen behavior, scientifically regulate children′s screen exposure behaviors, and increase parent-child communication, so as to reduce the adverse effects of screen exposure on children′s health.