Health
Limit of 3 hours of weekly screen time for kids has ‘positive effect’ on behavior, mental health: study
When it comes to screen time and kids, less is more.
That’s according to a recent Denmark study led by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark. It looked at the effects of reduced screen media exposure on youth mental health.
Eighty-nine families with a total of 181 children and teens were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
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The first group had to surrender their smartphones and tablets for a two-week period, and limit use of other screen media — such as TV and computers — to three hours or less per week, not counting work or school.
The control group did not have any limitations.
Families that limited kids’ screen exposure saw improvements in the children’s mental health — particularly in how the kids managed their emotions, communicated with peers and displayed behavioral difficulties. (Cyberguy.com)
The average ages of the children ranged from 4 to 17, averaging at 8 to 9 years old.
The families filled out a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at the end of the study period that gauged the children’s psychological symptoms.
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The groups that limited kids’ screen exposure saw improvements in mental health — particularly in how they managed their emotions and communicated with peers in helpful, considerate ways, plus a decrease in behavioral difficulties.
The findings were published in JAMA Network Open last month.
Fox News Digital reached out to the lead researcher for comment.
Risks of excess screen time for kids
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory related to youth social media use, emphasizing mental health concerns.
“There is evidence that children who have excessive screen time or access to social media at young ages are more likely to be depressed or anxious,” Dr. Joshua Stein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical director at PrairieCare in Minnesota, previously told Fox News Digital.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory related to social media use among youth, emphasizing mental health concerns. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
The expert cited a Gallup research study from 2023, which noted that teens who were on screens more than five hours a day were 60% more likely to express suicidal thoughts or self-harm.
“Those children were 2.8 times more likely to have a negative body view and 30% more likely to describe ‘a lot of sadness,’” added Stein, who was not involved in the Denmark research.
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Access to smartphones and social media increases the risk of cyberbullying, depression, sleep-related concerns, self-harm and body image issues, according to Stein.
“It can also lower self-esteem, and can socially pressure people to act outside their morals and family beliefs,” he added.
What’s a healthy amount of screen time for kids?
For kids ages 2 and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends capping screen time at two hours per day.
It discourages any use of media for children younger than age 2, per its website.
For kids ages 2 and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a cap of screen time at two hours per day. (iStock)
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) outlines specific guidelines for each age group on its website.
For babies up to 18 months, it recommends limiting screen use to video chatting with an adult.
Between a child’s age of 18 month and 24 months, its guideline is to use screens only for educational programming.
For kids between 2 and 5 years of age, the AACAP recommends a limit of one hour per weekday and three hours on weekends for any non-educational screen time.
“To be honest and point blank, the least amount of screen time is healthy for children,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
It does not specify an hourly limit for ages 6 and older, but does recommend encouraging healthy habits and limiting screen-based activities.
“To be honest and point blank, the least amount of screen time is healthy for children,” Dr. Zeyad Baker, a pediatric physician with Baker Health in New Jersey, previously told Fox News Digital.
He admitted that it gets trickier for parents to moderate use when kids need to do homework online — and he believes the quality of screen time comes into play when setting limits.
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“I think if you are doing family screen time on an educational level or if kids are using screen time to dig deep into valuable information and topics at a limited capacity, that is very different from watching and absorbing mindless content on the internet on a consistent basis,” Baker said.
An expert recommends only allowing children to have access to social media or certain television channels on the weekend and limiting screen time to academic-related content during the week. (Cyberguy.com)
He recommends only allowing children to have access to social media or certain television channels on the weekend and limiting screen time to academic-related content during the week.
Parents should not make screen time limitations come across as punishment, the expert noted.
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“Instead, they should encourage other activities, like going outside to play,” he said.
“Not only is that good for physical health, by adding activity and increasing vitamin D levels, but it’s also great for their mental health.”
Health
Switching from cigarettes to vapes linked to higher risk of major eye diseases, large study finds
US cigarette smoking drops to record low, vaping and nicotine pouch use surges
Fox News medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel discusses a New England Journal of Medicine study reporting US adult cigarette smoking rates dropped to a record low of 9.9% in 2024. Siegel warns about the addictive nature of vaping and nicotine pouches, which contain high levels of nicotine. He expresses concern over potential GI tract and heart issues, stressing social media’s role in promoting these products to younger generations.
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Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthier move, but a massive nationwide study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that smokeless alternatives could increase the risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine altogether.
Researchers from the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, analyzed health data from a group of 179,273 adults through the Korean National Health Insurance Service, according to a press release.
All participants had smoked traditional cigarettes between 2011 and 2012 and then quit smoking by 2018 or 2019, they reported.
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To ensure a fair comparison, the researchers paired up participants who shared similar backgrounds, including their age, gender, medical history, existing health conditions and general lifestyle habits.
Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthier move, but a large study suggests it could pose a risk to eye health. (iStock)
This process created a balanced group of 32,316 matched participants, who were divided into two categories: complete quitters who stopped using all nicotine products and those who transitioned to smokeless nicotine products, such as vapes.
The researchers followed the participants for an average of 4.6 years to determine whether they developed eye conditions, including cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and focus-related eyesight disorders.
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Over the tracking period, the group experienced a total of 6,328 major eye disease events. People who quit nicotine entirely had the lowest disease rate in the study, at 41.1 cases per 1,000 person-years (a measure that accounts for both the number of people in the study and how long they were followed).
In comparison, that rate rose to 44 cases for individuals who had switched over to smokeless alternatives like vapes.
The people included in the study were divided into two main categories: complete quitters who stopped using all nicotine products, and switchers who transitioned to smokeless tobacco or nicotine products, like vapes. (iStock)
Ultimately, the data showed that switching to alternative nicotine products carried a steady 7% increased risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine completely.
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Most notably, those who switched faced a 24% higher risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the blood vessels in the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
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Additionally, those who ditched cigarettes for vapes had a 7% higher risk of developing refractive and accommodation disorders, which affect the eye’s ability to focus clearly.
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“These findings challenge the assumption that substituting noncombustible nicotine or tobacco products for conventional cigarettes is visually harmless,” the researchers noted.
“These findings challenge the assumption that substituting noncombustible nicotine or tobacco products for conventional cigarettes is visually harmless,” the researchers noted. (iStock)
The authors did point out a few limitations of the research. Because this was a study looking back at health insurance data, it cannot definitively prove that vaping directly causes eye damage.
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Additionally, the study relied on people filling out questionnaires about their own smoking and vaping habits, which can sometimes lead to underreporting or simple memory errors.
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Still, the researchers concluded the findings suggest that replacing cigarettes with alternative nicotine products may not eliminate the risk of certain eye diseases.
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The latest COVID-19 vaccine (2024-2025) has been linked to fewer serious heart-related events among U.S. veterans.
New research confirmed a small reduction in COVID-related cardiovascular events, or COVID-19-associated MACE, due to the vaccine.
MACE (major adverse cardiovascular events) is a composite measure of serious heart-related outcomes. It typically includes cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke, and may also include hospitalization for heart failure.
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Using health records from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the researchers compared two groups of veterans — one that received the COVID and flu vaccine on the same day (nearly 350,000 people) and another group that received only the flu vaccine (nearly 700,000 people).
For people older than 75, vaccine effectiveness against COVID-associated MACE was 50.7%. (iStock)
Out of more than one million veterans studied, the average age was about 70 and 92% were male, according to a press release.
Within about eight months, the results showed that those who received the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine had a lower risk of COVID-associated major cardiovascular events, with a relative vaccine effectiveness of 37.7%.
The COVID vaccine was linked to a 57.9% lower risk of cardiovascular death, 38.5% lower risk of heart attack and 41.9% lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure, the researchers stated. The result for stroke was not statistically significant.
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The benefit was greatest among adults ages 75 and older and those with underlying health conditions. In people over 75, the vaccine was 50.7% effective at preventing COVID-associated MACE.
As the study was observational, it could not prove cause and effect between the COVID-19 vaccine and lower risk of cardiovascular events, but only highlighted an association.
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Dr. Glenn Hirsch, cardiologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, called these results “not overall surprising” in an interview with Fox News Digital.
After eight months, those who received the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine had a lower risk of COVID-associated major cardiovascular events. (iStock)
“This result is consistent with previous studies of the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines against infectious diseases [in] preventing cardiovascular events, including heart attack, cardiovascular cause of death or hospitalizations,” he said.
Acute inflammation in the body from infections like COVID-19 increases the risk of cardiovascular events and can cause further complications, according to the doctor.
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“This can lead to a higher risk of blood clotting, but can also make arterial plaques susceptible to rupture, which then leads to clot formation to heal a ruptured plaque,” he said. “This clotting can cause a near-total or complete occlusion of an artery, leading to these cardiovascular events.”
“Vaccines either prevent infection or reduce the severity of infection and subsequent inflammation, lowering the cardiovascular risk.”
Acute inflammation in the body from infections like COVID-19 can increase the risk of cardiovascular events, the study suggests. (iStock)
Despite the positive outcome, the overall benefit of the vaccine in this study was less than in previous studies, according to Hirsch, who was not involved in the research.
This could be due to the lower severity of illness seen in more recent COVID-19 variants, as well as immunity from prior infections among unvaccinated people, he noted. There has also been a decline in COVID testing, making it more difficult to link cardiovascular events to the virus.
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“The bottom line [is] that there is still evidence of benefit from COVID-19 vaccination like many other infectious disease vaccinations, and people should be encouraged to discuss these with their healthcare team annually,” Hirsch advised.
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“This is an observational trial and there can always be some confounding after necessary statistical adjustments and other potential benefits or harms, including adverse effects from vaccines that were not investigated in this study,” he added.
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