Digital Hygiene: Need Of The Hour In View Of Mounting Screen Time Among 0-4 Years Children.

Introduction: To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more. Children 0-4years must spend less time sitting watching screens, or restrained in prams and seats, get better quality sleep and have more time for active play if they are to grow up healthy, according to new guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).The objective of the study wasto determine the prevalence and factors responsible for excessive T in children. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among children aged 0-4 years for a period of six months in a tertiary care hospital of Karnataka, India. Data was collected through a self-reported pre-designed and pre-tested, questionnaire distributed to mothersof children. Microsoft excel 2010 was used for data entry and SPSS v 27for analysis. Statistical significance was assessed at 5% level of significance (p value <0.05) Results: A total of 177 study participants were interviewed for the study. Maximum were 3-4years and majority belonged to class II and class III socio-economic status. Among the total of 177 study participants, 59 (33.33%) were following the screen viewing time recommended as per WHO and 118 (66.67%) children were exposed to excessive screen time. Majority were 2-4years children who had excess screen viewingtime (76.27%). The significant factors were children residing in joint families, not having siblings and more than three screen devices at home (p<0.05) Conclusion: More than 60% of under five children are exposed to excess screen viewing time. What we really need to do is bring back play for children. The magnifying screen time activity in early childhood is an emerging issue of digital age linked with negative physical, mental and social impact.