Pattern of Screen Time among Middle School Students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Background: “Digital media has been found to be immersed in children’s growth and it has both positive and negative effects on their development. The amount of time spent looking at the screen is termed as screen time which includes Television (TVs), computers, smart phones, tablets and video consoles. Doctors have reported that screen time has effect on students’ development. Objective: To analyse the pattern of screen time overload (> 2 hours per day) among middle school students aged 11 to 15 years. Methodology: This is an analytical cross sectional study conducted amongst 205 school students aged 11-15 years with screen time exposure greater than 2 hours per day along with their parents in various recreational parks in Chennai. The study was carried out in the months of May and July 2018. A structured questionnaire was used and were entered on MS Excel sheet. Statistical analysis was done with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 17 version. Result and Discussion: Out of the total 205 students included in the study, 111 (54.15%) were male students. Majority of the students were in the 15 years age group (39.51%) and 61.73% spent between 3 to 5 hours as screen time daily. Gadgets predominantly used were smartphones (45.68%) followed by TV (19.75%). Students with both parents employed (55.56%) and no co-parental viewing (71.76%) habit had an abnormally elevated screen time duration. Also school students with increased screen time beyond recommended duration reported of snacking during media exposure (82.44%), sleep loss (71.22%), appetite loss (65.85%) and academic performance loss (55.61%). Conclusion: We can safely conclude that a high proportion of middle school students are using smartphones for more than the recommended screen time and this is associated with negative health outcomes. Channelling school students into engaging and creative sorts of activities on screen coupled with passive and supportive observation is the key to making screen time positive. How to cite this article:Murugan A. Pattern of Screen Time among Middle School Students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Int J Preven Curat Comm Med 2019; 5(4): 1-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2454.325X.201921