Associated Press
Infants younger than 1 shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic screens, according to guidelines issued Wednesday by the World Health Organization.
The agency, issuing its first such guidelines, also said that children 2 to 4 should have no more than one hour of “sedentary screen time” — including playing computer games or watching TV — per day. It also emphasized that this young kids need to be physically active and get enough sleep, habits that go along way in preventing obesity and other diseases later in life, the WHO said.
“Achieving health for all means doing what is best for health right from the beginning of people’s lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a time when family lifestyle patterns can be adapted to boost health gains.”
The news was first reported by Reuters.
Babies should not be exposed to screens at all and instead engage in interactive floor-based play, the WHO said. It also recommended that kids 1 to 4 years old have at least three hours of physical activity daily.
In sum: Ditch the screens and swap in reading, storytelling, singing and puzzles.
Inadequate physical activity is directly linked to more than 5 million deaths worldwide, across all age groups, in a given year, according to the WHO. Nearly one-quarter of adults, and 80 percent of adolescents, aren’t active enough — and learn harmful habits early in life.
Screens can be a main culprit.
“What we really need to do is bring back play for children,” Juana Willumsen, a WHO expert on childhood obesity and physical activity, said in a statement. “This is about making the shift from sedentary time to playtime, while protecting sleep. “
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