Screen time and its correlates among children aged 3–10 years during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the prevalence of high screen time among schoolchildren aged 3–10 years in Bhaktapur, its correlates and the parents’ strategies to reduce screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal.Methods and analysisThis cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted during March 2021. A total of 630 households were selected for the study from 21 randomly selected clusters in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Correlates of high screen time were determined using a logistic model. P<0.002 was taken as significant.ResultsAmong all the participants, the mean (SD) age was 7.0 (2.2) years, with 50.3% male participation. Few participants had online classes (n=24, 3.8%). The prevalence of high screen time among the participants was very high (55.2%, 95% CI=51.3% to 59.1%), which is even higher in boys (61.8%, 95% CI=58.0% to 65.6%). The median screen time before the COVID-19 pandemic was 1.0 hours (mean rank=275.8) which increased to 2.2 hours (mean rank=116.6) during the pandemic (p<0.001). Participants having smartphones were about seven times (adjusted OR=6.9, 95% CI=1.5 to 31.3, p=0.013) more likely to have high screen time than those who did not have the device. Most parents used to reprimand and urge their children to play outside to limit their screen usage.ConclusionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, about one in two schoolchildren of 3–10 years had higher screen time than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents’ strategies to reduce screen time were not effective. An intervention study is recommended to design and test effective strategies to reduce screen time and its negative effects on children’s health.

High Problematic Screen Exposure among Children Aged 2-5 Years Visiting the Department of Pediatrics of a Tertiary Care Centre

“… 3 , 4 Our study showed a prevalence of problematic screen exposure based on the PSE score to be 69.7%. Similar studies on screen time in children done in Nepal showed a prevalence of 55.2% in children aged 3 to 10 years of age 9 and 47.4 % in 5-9 years old. 10 These studies focused on school-aged children while preschoolers were not the predominant study groups.…”