Screen time for young children: what the WHO recommends.

Under five: the WHO guidance

The guidance, from 2019, covers physical activity, sitting and sleep together. Its point is the whole day: active play, enough good sleep, and quiet time spent with a caregiver on things like reading, storytelling, singing and puzzles, rather than long stretches in front of a screen.

Teenagers: what WHO Europe found

WHO Europe surveyed almost 280,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 in 44 countries and regions in 2022. Problematic social media use, meaning signs such as being unable to control use, feeling bad without it and neglecting other things, rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022; 12% were at risk of problematic gaming. The same report notes that heavy users who were not problematic users reported stronger support from friends, and that problematic use goes together with less sleep and later bedtimes. Which countries are setting an age for social media: social media age limits in Europe; and the rules at school: phones in schools in Europe. When to give a first phone: official advice across Europe.

Practical ideas for families

• Screen-free meals, for everyone at the table.
• Devices out of bedrooms at night, charged in a shared place. More in your phone before bed.
• Watch together when screens are on, and talk about it.
• Agree the rules out loud, including the adults’ own.

The adults’ phones

A household’s screen habits include the grown-ups’. Lychnos Ring is being built for parents who want to answer the small things (a reminder, the next appointment, an important message) without a phone in their hand at the playground or the dinner table. It is in development and makes no health claims; see an AI ring for parents.

Sources, read 4 November 2026: WHO, “To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more”, 24 April 2019; WHO Europe, teens, screens and mental health, 25 September 2024. General information, not medical advice.