(Radio Iowa) – Many studies indicate excess screen time can impact a child’s brain development, even leading to behavioral issues, depression and anxiety, but a new study finds too much screen time can also hurt the heart. Dr. Erin Davis, a pediatric cardiologist at Emplify Health by Gundersen, says the report published in the Journal of the American Heart Association is especially alarming.
“It showed the increase of cardiovascular diseases and cardiometabolic diseases with increased screen time,” Davis says, “that being high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased abdominal wall fat, and increased insulin resistance.” More children are spending more time on their screens at school and at home, for education and recreation, so Davis says it’s no surprise the negative health effects are becoming more severe in kids.
“It is scary,” Davis says. “It’s things that used to be only an issue in older adults, and it’s becoming younger and younger and younger that these kind of diseases are creeping in on us.” Parents need to take an active role in monitoring their child’s screen time, and she says they need to walk the walk, leading by example. “Modeling behavior is really big when it comes to screen times,” Davis says. “You can’t tell your kids to get off their phones when they’re sitting there watching you do that.”
In addition to demonstrating healthy screen use, Davis says parents need to help their kids understand when to put the devices away, how to use them wisely, and how to avoid multitasking. “Having some rules where there’s some screen-free time, no screens at the dinner table. When you’re going on outings, you don’t need to be taking the iPad everywhere,” Davis says. “Making sure screens stay out of the bedroom, no TV, no phones in there, which can help lessen the screen time, and it can also help with children’s sleep by not having those screens in there.”
Davis says studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest children two years and under have -no- screen time, while older kids be limited to one or two hours a day. Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.
