Children are spending increasing amounts of time on mobile phones, televisions, tablets, and computer screens. Parents and guardians are worried and anxious about this trend. Some believe it is a problem unique to their own child. In reality, the problem exists in households across the country. Unregulated screen time is harming children’s physical and mental health.

A study conducted by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) has found that a large proportion of school children in Dhaka spend an average of nearly five hours a day looking at the screens of electronic devices such as mobile phones, televisions, tablets, or computers.

As a result, their sleep duration is decreasing, while weight gain, headaches, and eye problems are increasing. Negative impacts on mental health have also been observed.

The study was conducted over two years on 420 children from six schools in Dhaka. Its findings were published on 4 May in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) Human Factors.