When it comes to screen time and kids, less is more.
That’s according to a recent Denmark study led by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark. It looked at the effects of reduced screen media exposure on youth mental health.
Eighty-nine families with a total of 181 children and teens were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
The first group had to surrender their smartphones and tablets for a two-week period, and limit use of other screen media — such as TV and computers — to three hours or less per week, not counting work or school.
The control group did not have any limitations.
The average ages of the children ranged from 4 to 17, averaging at 8 to 9 years old.
The families filled out a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at the end of the study period that gauged the children’s psychological symptoms.
The groups that limited kids' screen exposure saw improvements in mental health — particularly in how they managed their emotions and communicated with peers in helpful, considerate ways, plus a decrease in behavioral difficulties.
"Our study provides causal evidence for a link between a family-based reduction in screen media use and improved mental well-being," Schmidt-Persson told Fox News Digital via email.
"The size of the effect was surprising to me, because we only included healthy children and adolescents," he went on.
"Thus, it is important to note that healthy children and adolescents also benefit from reduced screen media use if parents also reduce their use."
Risks of excess screen time for kids
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory related to youth social media use, emphasizing mental health concerns.
"There is evidence that children who have excessive screen time or access to social media at young ages are more likely to be depressed or anxious," Dr. Joshua Stein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical director at PrairieCare in Minnesota, previously told Fox News Digital.
The expert cited a Gallup research study from 2023, which noted that teens who were on screens more than five hours a day were 60% more likely to express suicidal thoughts or self-harm.
"Those children were 2.8 times more likely to have a negative body view and 30% more likely to describe ‘a lot of sadness,’" added Stein, who was not involved in the Denmark research.
Access to smartphones and social media increases the risk of cyberbullying, depression, sleep-related concerns, self-harm and body image issues, according to Stein.
"It can also lower self-esteem, and can socially pressure people to act outside their morals and family beliefs," he added.
The study did have some limitations, the lead researcher noted.
"One of the key limitations is that the mental health outcome was parent-reported," Schmidt-Persson said.
"Thus, parents in the screen media reduction group may unknowingly have overestimated the effect if they believed that reducing screen media use is healthy for their child."
What’s a healthy amount of screen time for kids?
For kids ages 2 and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends capping screen time at two hours per day.
It discourages any use of media for children younger than age 2, per its website.
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) outlines specific guidelines for each age group on its website.
For babies up to 18 months, it recommends limiting screen use to video chatting with an adult.
Between a child's age of 18 month and 24 months, its guideline is to use screens only for educational programming.
For kids between 2 and 5 years of age, the AACAP recommends a limit of one hour per weekday and three hours on weekends for any non-educational screen time.
It does not specify an hourly limit for ages 6 and older, but does recommend encouraging healthy habits and limiting screen-based activities.
"To be honest and point-blank, the least amount of screen time is healthy for children," Dr. Zeyad Baker, a pediatric physician with Baker Health in New Jersey, previously told Fox News Digital.
He admitted that it gets trickier for parents to moderate use when kids need to do homework online — and he believes the quality of screen time comes into play when setting limits.
"I think if you are doing family screen time on an educational level or if kids are using screen time to dig deep into valuable information and topics at a limited capacity, that is very different from watching and absorbing mindless content on the internet on a consistent basis," Baker said.
He recommends only allowing children to have access to social media or certain television channels on the weekend and limiting screen time to academic-related content during the week.
Parents should not make screen time limitations come across as punishment, the expert noted.
"Instead, they should encourage other activities, like going outside to play," he said.
"Not only is that good for physical health, by adding activity and increasing vitamin D levels, but it's also great for their mental health."
Schmidt-Persson recommends that parents attempt to reduce family-wide media use and make room for more leisure time without the use of screens.
"I recognize that it is not easy, but making simple and understandable rules for children, adolescents and parents could be key," he added.
