Medienleitlinie

Most experts agree that, on average, young children spend too much time with screen-based media. At the same time, screen media have a more adverse effect on children’s health than on adults.

The newly published guidelines coordinated by the Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) provide information on the health consequences of screen media use by children, adolescents and their families and gives basic recommendations on the use of screen media.

“Clinical practice guidelines on the prevention of dysregulated screen media use in childhood and adolescence” were formulated by 12 professional societies and patient representatives. This was done under the guidance of the German Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ). With the development level S2k these guidelines are based on an interdisciplinary consensus process, supported by scientific evidence and the experience and assessment of clinically active experts.

In total, the guideline group formulated 59 consensus-based recommendations with a general up to strong consensus. The guidelines recommend that children under 3 years of age should be kept away from any passive and active use of screen media and the screen media use of older children and adolescents should be age-appropriate and accompanied. Screen media should not be employed as a reward, punishment or pacification and screen media should not be used during mealtimes. Schools should avoid digital distance teaching whenever possible. Attention should always be paid to the danger of addictive-like use, especially of online media.

The presented guidelines are the first of their kind and thus a milestone in dealing with prevention recommendations of dysregulated screen media use in childhood and adolescence; however, the guideline development also shows a discrepancy between scientifically based recommendations and the world of everyday life.