Screen time and associated factors among preschoolers in Wuxi during COVID-19 outbreak / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the current status of screen time in preschoolers during the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the influences of parent-child active play and school online education on screen time.@*Methods@#A total of 2 370 preschoolers were chosen through clustering sampling from 7 kindergartens in Wuxi urban areas. Questionnaire survey was administered to parents for child screen time, active play, online education as well as characteristics information.@*Results@#A total of 1 428(60.3%) preschoolers reported more than 1 hour screen time a day, and 1 915(80.8%) preschoolers reported more than 20 minutes consecutive screen time. Compared with the weekend before the COVID-19 outbreak, 1 551(65.4%) preschoolers reported an increase of 10 minutes in screen time perday, and 1 444(60.9%) reported an increase of 5 minutes for one sersion. Logistic regression analysis showed that after controlling for confounding factors, high frequency of parent-child active play, parents’ exercise habits, online education from kindergartens and children’s active participation in the online education were negatively associated with preschoolers’ excessive and increased screen time during this period(OR=0.39-0.79, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#During the COVID-19 outbreak, preschoolers’ media use in Wuxi city is worrisome. Parent-child active play, parents’ exercise and online education from kindergartens may play a positive role in reducing preschoolers’ media use.