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Almost all parents of young children know it: high-dose screens are harmful to the development of children. To counterbalance these effects, Japanese scientists have discovered that time spent outdoors can be enough. The opinion of Dr Stéphane Clerget, child psychiatrist and author of “The spiritual intelligence of your child” published by Leduc.s.
What if instead of spending the weekend at home, you take the kids out for a walk in the forest? This time spent outdoors could be much more beneficial than you think.
Observe children and assess their development
Japanese scientists followed 885 children aged 18 months to 4 years to study the link between average daily screen time at age 2, outdoor play time at age 2 years and 8 months and neurodevelopmental outcomes on communication, daily living skills and socialization scores at age 4 years.
Time spent outdoors offsets the effects of screens
Results: Nearly one-fifth of the effects of screen time on daily living skills were counterbalanced by outdoor play. This means that increasing outdoor play time could reduce the negative effects of screen time on daily living skills by up to 20%.
The researchers also found that, although not related to screen time, socialization was better in 4-year-olds who had spent more time playing outside at ages 2 and 8. month.
Good in your body, good in your head!
Balancing screen and outdoor time
These findings show that optimizing screen time in young children is important for proper neurodevelopment. “We were surprised to find that outdoor play didn’t really change the negative effects of screen time on communication, but did have an effect on daily living skills.” says Kenji J. Tsuchiya, professor at Osaka University and lead author of the study.
For Tomoko Nishimura, co-author of this work, “screen time is not linked to social outcomes, and even if screen time is relatively high, encouraging more outdoor play time could help children stay healthy and grow well. appropriate way“.
The opinion of Dr Stéphane Clerget, child psychiatrist in Paris
“Children who do not do enough outdoor activities have different overall health problems such as overweight, or myopia, which demonstrates the importance of spending time outdoors for children.” begins first the child psychiatrist. “The time spent outside also influences sleep, the development of their imagination, all of which influence their cognitive performance. adds the specialist. “What is important is to limit screen time, but above all to encourage the child to spend time outdoors: by enrolling him in a sporting activity or simply going out for a walk at the weekend. And if your child refuses, invite friends to join you, this should motivate him to go out !” concludes Stéphane Clerget.