How Much Screen Time? Insights from Nine-Country Preschool Study

Co-PI: Assistant Professor John Komar, PESS, NIE
Co-PI: Dr Tay Lee Yong, Beacon Primary School
Research Assistant: Mr Terence Chua, PESS, NIE
Research Assistant: Ms Low Seow Ting, PESS, NIE

The IISSAAR research examined on- and off-screen behaviors of preschool children in nine countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, China, Italy, Spain, and Finland.

The research focused on parent-report of children's screen media and non-screen behaviors and their adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) 24-hour movement guidelines.

The WHO recommends that for each 24-hour cycle, preschool children should have at least 180 minutes of physical activity, less than one hour of screen time, and 10-13 hours of good quality sleep.

The research was conducted between 2020 and 2022, involved 8,170 parents that utilized the SMALLQ® and PEDsQL™ questionnaires to garner caregiver responses about children’s daily on and off-screen behaviors and perceived quality of life.

Results showed significant variations in children’s screen time across countries, with Singapore and Indonesia having the highest relative screen times during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2.7 hours per day in 2020. Contrarily, Japanese children had the lowest relative daily screen time of 1.9 hours, compared to 2.3 hours for South Korean, 2.5 hours for Thai children and 2.0 hours for Finnish children in the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020.

Adherence to the WHO 24-hour movement guidelines was low with the highest compliance for sleep at 70%, followed by physical activity at 43% and screen time at 40%. Spain (15%) and China (12%) had the highest percentage of children meeting all three guidelines, while Japan (3%), Thailand (5%), Singapore (6%), and South Korea (7%) had the lowest guideline compliance.

Overall, across all nine countries 13% met zero guidelines while 9% met all three guidelines.        

Project Implications

In all nine countries, preschool children often exceed the recommended daily screen time limit of less than 1 hour.

Cultural context affects how screen time correlates with behavior and guidelines adherence.

The overall adherence to 24-hour WHO movement guidelines is low emphasizing the need for balance between screen time and other activities, or with the rest of the time.

We need to promote and support educational policies to help parents monitor and balance screen time with other activities.

Resources

Project website:  https://www.iissaar.com

Acknowledgement of website development assistance - Interns Verity Lua & Shin Ee. Registered trademark: SMALLQ® c/o Professor Michael Chia, PESS, NIE, NTU. 2018-2030. SMALLQ® was translated into 14 languages.

Keynote address: 10 between 2020 & 2024 to audiences in Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, & Malaysia.

Public talk: SUSS Public Talk Series 2024: Early Childhood & Care in 2024.

Media: Commentary or interviews on BBC Radio 7, Channel News Asia, Channel 8 TV News, Podcast on Dads for Life and in the Straits Times in 2021, 2022 & 2023. Link to articles: https://www.iissaar.com/iissaar-news

Infographics: https://www.iissaar.com/publications-and-infographics

Resources: https://www.iissaar.com/useful-links

Podcasts: https://www.iissaar.com/copy-of-iissaar-news   

Journal publications: https://www.iissaar.com/publications-and-infographics

Published papers by IISSAAR-Singapore

Chia, M. Y. H., Komar, J., Chua, T. B. K. & Tay, L. Y. (2022). Associations between Parent Attitudes and on- and off-Screen Behaviours of Preschool Children in Singapore. International Journal of Environmental Resesarch and Public Health, 19, 11508. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811508

Tay L. Y., Aiyoob, T. B., Chua T. B. K., Ramachandran, K., & Chia, M. Y. H. (2021). Pre-schoolers’ use of technology and digital media in Singapore: entertainment indulgence and/or learning engagement? Educational Media International, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2021.1908498

Chia, M. Y. H., Tay, L. Y., & Chua, T. B. K. (2019). The Development of an Online Surveillance of Digital Media Use in Early Childhood Questionnaire - SMALLQ™ - For Singapore. Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 8(2), 77-80. https://doi.org/10.26773/mjssm.190910

Chia, M. Y. H., Tay, L. Y., & Chua, T. B. K. (2019). Quality of Life and Meeting 24-h WHO Guidelines Among Preschool Children in Singapore. Early Childhood Education Journal volume 48, 313–323(2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00987-9

Published papers by our collaborators

Fauziah, P. Y., Kusumawardani, E., Nopembri, S., Mulyawan, R., Susilowati, I. H., Nugraha, S., Alimoeso, S., Hasiholan, B. P., Fauzi, L., Cahyati, W. H., Rahayu, T., Chua, T. B. K., & Chia, M. Y. H.  (2022). Play–Sleep Nexus in Indonesian Preschool Children before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19, 10695. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710695

Guo, H., Ma, J., Chua, T. B. K., Tay, L. Y., Chia, M. Y. H., & Kim, H. (2022). Associations between Parents’ Digital Media Habits, Engagement, Awareness, and Movement Guidelines among Preschool-Age Children: International Ipreschooler Surveillance Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19, 10484. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710484

Hasanen, E., Koivukoski, H., Kortelainen, L., Vehmas, H., Sääkslahti, A. (2021). Sociodemographic Correlates of Parental Co-Participation in Digital Media Use and Physical Play of Preschool-Age Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18, 5903. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115903

New grant: ERFP 20/23 CYHM. Leave No Child Indoors: Impact of Play Environments on the Physical and SocioEmotional Development of Preschool Children and Children from Families with Less-abundant Resources in Singapore.

Access summary videos of IISSAAR impact here: https://youtu.be/9bs-oV12WxE & https://youtu.be/RGxsbirZzLc

Acknowledgement: Video production assistance - Dan Li, Visiting Scholar to PESS.