HHS Sounds Alarm Over Children’s Screen Time

Federal health officials are sounding the alarm over children’s screen time, warning that excessive use of phones and tablets can affect everything from eyesight and physical health to learning, memory and emotional development.

Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos said a recent Surgeon General’s advisory identified four areas of harm associated with screen use among children and adolescents: physical health, academics, mental health and cognitive development.

“We need to really sound the alarm and have all hands on deck,” said Haridopolos, who serves as Director of National Health Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General and is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health.

The issue was the focus of the Live Alive Symposium, which brought together federal health officials, researchers, clinicians, educators, policymakers, advocates and technology companies.

Haridopolos said HHS leaders attending included Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and other senior officials.

“We’re not going to work in silos,” Haridopolos said. “We’re going to have interoperability across HHS and across sector to try to solve this problem on prevention as well as awareness.”

Haridopolos pointed to concerns including childhood obesity, anxiety, depression, attention and memory problems, declining academic performance and increased nearsightedness.

She also urged parents to reconsider using tablets and phones as “digital babysitters” and to model healthier habits themselves.

“We need to start looking up and living in real life and touching grass,” Haridopolos said. “We need to be in the moment and we need to lead by example with our children.”

Her recommendations include delaying screen exposure, establishing family media plans, keeping devices away from meals and bedtime, and replacing screen use with healthier activities and face-to-face interaction.

“It’s never too late to revert back to the basics,” Haridopolos said.