Research articleScreen-Viewing Behaviors Among Preschoolers: Parents’ Perceptions
Introduction
Worldwide, childhood obesity is a growing public health problem.1 In Canada, one in three children are either overweight or obese, with onset as early as age 2.2, 3, 4, 5 Due to the potential health consequences and burden on the healthcare system, effective interventions targeting childhood obesity are timely and of top priority.6, 7, 8 It has been suggested that sedentary behavior is a major factor contributing to childhood obesity. Extensive television viewing and computer use have been consistently associated with North American children’s being overweight.9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Although some findings acknowledged only weak associations between sedentary behavior and obesity, limiting screen-related sedentary behaviors seems critical for preventing obesity.15, 16, 17, 18 Sedentary lifestyles are evident among young Canadian children; researchers have found that children aged 2 to 5 typically spend >3 hours each day watching television, exceeding the recommendation by up to 100%.19, 20
Early childhood interventions may promote lifelong healthy behaviors before the development of unhealthy behaviors.21, 22 Studies of school-aged children have identified screen viewing as a ritualized behavior. This finding highlights the importance of establishing appropriate screen-viewing behaviors in early childhood in order for them to become habits later in life.23 Establishing appropriate screen-viewing behaviors in early childhood (i.e., preschool age) may be key in preventing screen-related sedentary behaviors and promoting long-term healthy lifestyles.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore parents’ perceptions of their preschoolers’ health-related behaviors. The longer-term goal is to use this information to develop an intervention aimed at the primary prevention of obesity and promotion of healthy bodyweight in young children. As part of a multipronged study, this paper reports parents’ perceptions and insights with respect to preschoolers’ screen-viewing behaviors. Parents’ perceptions pertaining to physical activity have been reported by Irwin et al.24
Section snippets
Methods
This qualitative study involved ten focus group interviews, conducted between September and November 2003, with parents of preschool-aged children (aged 2.5 to 5 years). Semistructured focus group discussion guides were used to explore parents’ perceptions about their preschoolers’ screen-viewing behaviors, including responses to the current guidelines, and barriers and facilitators to meeting the guidelines. The Canadian Institutes for Health Research funded this project, and ethical approval
Discussion and Conclusion
This study sought parents’ perspectives about screen-viewing behaviors in preschoolers. It is the first in this field to qualitatively document parents’ viewpoints that might assist in developing interventions to shape children’s appropriate screen viewing from early childhood. As indicated by parents in the current study, screens play important roles in helping busy parents cope with young children. Across all focus groups, parents valued screen-viewing activities as good educational tools, a
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2021, Infant Behavior and DevelopmentCitation Excerpt :For example, when investigating phoneme recognition in 9-month-old infants, Kuhl, Tsao, and Liu (2003) demonstrated that a control group exposed to Mandarin Chinese via recordings (i.e., video, audio) had no effect on phoneme recognition when compared to a treatment group who had been exposed to the language via interpersonal interaction. A second mechanism by which screens are theorized to impact child development is thought to occur when screens are used as a “babysitter,” such as when they are used to occupy a child’s attention in the absence of the adult caregiver (He, Irwin, Bouck, Tucker, & Pollett, 2005; Hesketh, Hinkley, & Campbell, 2012). Third, screens may impact development when a caregiver uses a screen in the company of a child, dividing their own attention between the screen and the child (Hiniker et al., 2015; Lemish, Elias, & Floegel, 2020; Radesky, Kistin et al., 2014).
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