Methods. Children (aged 24-62 months) who were exposed to screen viewing for at least 2 hours/day were included. Parents were given three counseling sessions to reduce excessive screen time. Parents reported daily screen time, co-viewing, background TV exposure, the duration of reading books and playing with their child.
Results. The study included 105 children (median age: 34 months IQR:28-41). Before counseling, the screen viewing time and the percentage of co-viewing among typically developing children (n=22) and children with a neurodevelopmental disorder (n=83) were similar. There was a statistically significant decrease in screen time in both groups after the intervention. A higher impact was shown in the neurodevelopmental disorder group. The increase in percentages of co-viewing, as well as the increase in the time spent playing with their children, were statistically significant in the neurodevelopmental disorder group.
Conclusions. The study demonstrated that three pediatric office-setting counseling sessions including media use recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics are effective to decrease screen time for children who are either typically developing or with a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Keywords : background TV exposure; excessive screen time; family counseling; neurodevelopmental disorder, pediatric office setting