Morning, and Happy New Year 
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is today releasing some new recommendations about screen time for children, based on a survey of existing studies and data.
You can read the recommendations in detail here, but the top lines include:
"There is not enough evidence to confirm that screen time is in itself harmful to child health at any age, making it impossible to recommend age appropriate time limits."
"Although there are negative associations between screen time and poor mental health, sleep and fitness, we cannot be sure that these links are causal, or if other factors are causing both negative health outcomes and higher screen time. To help us develop a better understanding of this issue, [we] urge both more and better research, particularly on newer uses of digital media, such as social media.”
"Parents [should] approach screen time based on the child’s developmental age, the individual need and the value the family place on positive activities such as socialising, exercise and sleep - when screen time displaces these activities, the evidence suggests there is a risk to child wellbeing."
"Parents can use a series of questions which aim to help families make decisions about their screen time use: Is your family’s screen time under control? Does screen use interfere with what your family want to do? Does screen use interfere with sleep? Are you able to control snacking during screen time use?"
*"It is also important that adults in the family reflect on their own level of screen time in order to have a positive influence on younger members.”
We're getting lots of media requests about this today so would love to know what you all think about the RCPCH's conclusions. Are they realistic? Do they go far enough? Do you agree there needs to be more research in this area? Do you worry that there's a strong link between social media use and teenagers' (particularly girls') mental health, as suggested in this research from University College London today? Do you practise what you preach (putting any devices down an hour before bed, limiting your own device use so that it doesn't interfere with family time) when it comes to parenting and screen time?
Thanks
MNHQ