ECHO Social Media and Screen Time Research

Questions
For more information, please email the NIH at NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov.
Social media and digital tools have become part of daily life for many children and adolescents. While these platforms may offer a number of benefits, excessive screen time and digital media use among children have also been associated with adverse physical, developmental, and mental health outcomes, including obesity, inadequate sleep, and depression and anxiety. More research is needed to understand the full impact of screen time and social media use during developmentally sensitive periods of childhood and adolescence.
How can ECHO continue to advance research on the effects of digital media on child and adolescent health and well-being?
The ECHO Program is committed to understanding the factors that influence child health, well-being, and development. The ECHO Program’s uniquely diverse, nationwide research network collects information from more than 50,000 children and their families, including information about media habits and related health outcomes. This allows researchers to investigate the effects of digital media use on child health and well-being.
ECHO continues to publish new research on the role of digital media in child health and well-being. See below for a regularly updated list of ECHO publications investigating childhood screen use.
ECHO Screen Time Publications
How Has Children’s Screen Time Changed During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Increases in screen time among children during the COVID-19 pandemic persisted more than one year into the pandemic, even when school closures and other restrictions had been lifted.
How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Children’s Health Behaviors?
Children’s screen time increased during the pandemic with Hispanic children and non-Hispanic Black children having the most noticeable increase in screen time.
How Have Changes in Family Situations Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Children’s Behavior?
Children with parents who were able to change their work schedules to care for their children during the pandemic had less screen time and slept longer at night compared to children with parents who were unable to adjust their work schedules due to stress about money and access to food.
How Can Clinicians Help Parents Set Reasonable Boundaries for their Children’s Digital Media Use?
Parents have varying knowledge and beliefs when it comes to regulating their children’s digital media use, but many parents are interested in learning more about this topic from materials provided by their child’s pediatrician.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Collaborative ECHO research led by Yun Liu, PhD and Joseph Braun, PhD of Brown University investigates the relationship between maternal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during pregnancy and obesity risk among children and adolescents. The research team evaluated maternal PFAS levels during pregnancy and child body mass index (BMI) for 1,391 mother-child pairs across eight ECHO cohorts. The researchers found that higher levels of some PFAS during pregnancy were associated with higher BMIs and an increased risk of obesity in children. This research, titled “Associations of Gestational Perfluoroalkyl Substances Exposure with Early Childhood BMI Z-Scores and Risk of Overweight/Obesity: Results from the ECHO Cohorts,” is published in 
High exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during pregnancy may be associated with lower birthweights, according to a new study funded by Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program (ECHO) at the National Institutes of Health.