Objective

To assess the impact of focused parental education on limiting screen time in early childhood.

Methods

An open label randomized controlled trial was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi wherein 120 healthy children aged 9–10 months of age, born at term gestation and appropriate for gestational age (birth weight ≥ 2500 g), attending the immunization clinic reporting for measles-rubella (MR) vaccination were enrolled. Primary caregivers were randomized to either receive 30 minutes of in-person active counselling with pre-designed content including a printed pamphlet targeted at reduction of screen time (Educational group, n = 60) or to receive routine in-person counseling on general health measures (Control group, n = 60). All caregivers were followed up. Primary caregivers in both groups were reinforced telephonically every month for 6 months. At the end of six months, we assessed the proportion of children with screen-time > 1 hour/day and the median duration of screen-time (minutes/day). We also compared both groups in terms of changes in pre-post intervention developmental and behavioral scores (measured with Ages and Stages questionnaires).

Results

After 6 months of follow-up, 3% (2/60) children in the Educational group had screen time > 1 hour/day as compared to 53% (32/60) (P < 0.001) in the Control group. Median (IQR) for total screen duration in the Educational group was 35 (30,49) minutes/day compared to 75 (50,90) minutes/day in the Control group (P < 0.001). Children in the Educational group were also observed to have a significant change in behavioral score and fine motor and adaptive skills as compared to controls.

Conclusion

Parental education starting in infancy is a promising intervention to reduce screen exposure in children; it may also have a positive impact on their developmental and behavioral skills.

中文翻译：

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限制幼儿期屏幕时间的家长教育：一项随机对照试验

客观的

评估集中家长教育对限制幼儿期屏幕时间的影响。

方法

在德里一家三级护理医院进行了一项开放标签随机对照试验，其中 120 名 9-10 个月大、足月出生且适合胎龄（出生体重≥ 2500 克）的健康儿童在免疫诊所就诊，报告了参加了麻疹-风疹 (MR) 疫苗接种。主要看护者被随机分配接受 30 分钟的现场主动咨询，其中包含预先设计的内容，包括旨在减少屏幕时间的印刷小册子（教育组，n = 60），或者接受有关一般健康措施的常规现场咨询（对照组，n = 60）。对所有护理人员进行了随访。两组的主要照顾者每月都会接受电话强化，持续 6 个月。六个月结束时，我们评估了每天屏幕时间 > 1 小时的儿童比例以及屏幕时间中位数（分钟/天）。我们还比较了两组干预前后发育和行为评分的变化（通过年龄和阶段问卷测量）。

结果

6 个月的随访后，教育组中有 3% (2/60) 的儿童每天看屏幕的时间 > 1 小时，而对照组中有 53% (32/60) ( P < 0.001)。教育组中总屏幕持续时间的中位数 (IQR) 为 35 (30,49) 分钟/天，而对照组为 75 (50,90) 分钟/天 ( P < 0.001)。与对照组相比，教育组的儿童在行为评分、精细运动和适应技能方面也有显着变化。

结论

从婴儿期开始进行家长教育是减少儿童接触屏幕的有效干预措施；它还可能对他们的发展和行为技能产生积极影响。