How to reduce screen time: 1 in 5 kids ages 6–11 now spend 4+ hours a day on screens
Before figuring out how to reduce screen time, it helps to know where families actually are. Each year the National Survey of Children's Health asks US parents how long their child spends in front of a TV, computer, phone, or other device on most weekdays, not counting schoolwork. Here is the share at four hours or more, 2022–2024 — the years that can be compared directly.
Share of children with 4+ hours of screen time on most weekdays, excluding schoolwork, % (parent report). Shaded band: 95% confidence interval. Source: Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data query 2022–2024: time spent in front of a TV, computer, cellphone or other electronic device, not including schoolwork, on most weekdays. Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, supported by HRSA, Maternal and Child Health Bureau · Survey data: HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau, collected by the U.S. Census Bureau (public, U.S. Government); query results courtesy of CAHMI, childhealthdata.org. Chart: Raising Stoics — free to embed with credit.
What the data shows
- In 2024, 19.9% of children ages 6–11 were reported to spend four or more hours on screens on most weekdays, excluding schoolwork — about one in five, roughly 4.7 million children. The share was 18.3% in 2022 and 17.3% in 2023. The 95% confidence intervals for 2023 (16.1–18.5%) and 2024 (18.7–21.3%) do not overlap, which suggests the increase is unlikely to reflect sampling variation alone.
- For children ages 0–5, the percentage was 7.9% in 2022, 8.2% in 2023, and 7.6% in 2024.
- At the other end, 36.0% of children under 6 spent less than an hour a day on screens in 2024, up from 32.1% in 2022. Among children ages 6–11, it was 10.8% in 2024 (9.4% in 2022).
- Earlier NSCH estimates for 2018–2021, in the archived data, suggest that the share of children ages 6–11 with four or more hours was highest in 2020, the first pandemic year. The Data Resource Center warns that these archived estimates are not comparable with 2022 and later because of changes in weighting and imputation, so they are not shown on the chart.
- The question excludes schoolwork and covers most weekdays, not weekends. It's a parent's estimate, not a measured figure.
What it means for parents
In 2024, 7.6% of children ages 0–5 were reported to spend four or more hours on screens on most weekdays; this describes reported use, not a safe limit. Heavy screen use is far more common among school-age children than among preschoolers. Screen-time routines can be introduced early and adjusted as children grow. What matters most, according to current pediatric advice, is what screens push out: sleep, outdoor play, and time talking with you.
How to reduce screen time for kids: practical steps
Replace, don't just remove. Turning off a screen with nothing to do next is often one of the hardest moments of a child's day. Have the next thing ready — a snack, a game, going outside, helping in the kitchen — before the screen goes off.
Set limits in episodes, not minutes. "Two episodes" or "until the timer rings" is something a 5-year-old can see. "Half an hour" is not. Agree on the limit before the screen goes on, not when you want it off.
Make some places and times screen-free. Meals, the car on short trips, bedrooms, and the hour before bed are the most useful. A rule attached to a place is easier to keep than a rule you have to argue every time.
Choose media that ends. A show or an app with a natural stopping point is far easier to turn off than autoplay, endless feeds, or games designed to keep a child playing. Turning off autoplay is a simple first step.
Watch together when you can. Talking about what's on screen turns passive watching into something closer to reading together, and it lets you see what your child is actually taking in.
Don't use the screen as the main way to calm a child down. It works in the moment, but it skips the practice of calming down, and it makes screens the answer to every hard feeling.
Look at the adult screens too. Children notice when parents are on phones during meals and conversations. Putting your own phone in another room for dinner helps make a family rule feel fair.
Leave room for boredom. A child who complains of boredom for ten minutes usually finds something to do. That's not a problem to fix with a device; it's where play starts.
How to talk to your child about screen limits
Explain the reason once, on a calm day, in words they understand. "Screens are fun, and they're also sneaky — they make it hard to stop, even for grown-ups. So our family has rules that help us stop." Blaming the design of the device, not the child, takes the fight out of it.
Make the rules together where you can. Let your child help decide which show comes first or which day is a movie day. Five-year-olds tend to follow rules more readily when they have helped make them, and they enjoy reminding you of them.
Draw the rules. A simple picture chart — a plate with a line through a tablet, a bed with a line through a phone — works better than words at this age, and it can go on the fridge.
Warn before the end, every time. "Two more minutes, then it's bath." Then sit with them for the last bit if you can; joining them for the ending makes turning it off much easier than calling from another room.
Expect protests and don't re-argue the rule in the moment. "You're sad it's over. It's still bath time." Staying calm and consistent is what makes a limit feel like a fact rather than a negotiation. After a few weeks of the same routine, many children protest less.
What pediatricians recommend now
In early 2026 the American Academy of Pediatrics published an updated policy in Pediatrics that takes a broader view than its 2016 advice, which had suggested about an hour a day of quality programming for children ages 2–5. The new policy argues that screen time can't be judged by hours alone.
Instead, it asks families to look at what children are watching and playing, what screens displace — especially sleep, movement, and time with people — and whether media is designed to keep children hooked. It encourages screen-free times and places, such as meals and bedtime, and not using devices as the main way to calm a child.
For a parent this is less a new rule than a shift in the question: not "how many minutes?" but "what did the screen replace today, and what was my child watching or playing while it was on?"
What other surveys say about kids' screen time
Common Sense Media's 2025 census of children ages 0–8, based on a survey of US parents in August 2024, found average daily screen time of 1 hour 3 minutes for children under 2, 2 hours 8 minutes for ages 2–4, and 3 hours 28 minutes for ages 5–8. Short-form video such as TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts averaged 14 minutes a day overall and 22 minutes for 5- to 8-year-olds, up from about one minute in 2020, and gaming averaged 38 minutes a day.
The Pew Research Center's 2025 survey of parents found that 51% of children ages 2–4 watch YouTube daily, up from 38% in 2020, and that 82% of children under 2 had ever watched TV.
These surveys measure different things from the NSCH — average minutes, particular platforms, weekends included — so their numbers don't line up exactly. They point the same way, though: screen time is higher in the early school years than in the toddler years, and short videos and games have increased in recent surveys.
Show the data as a table
| Year | 0-5 years | 6-11 years |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.9% (7.1–8.8) | 18.3% (17.1–19.6) |
| 2023 | 8.2% (7.2–9.2) | 17.3% (16.1–18.5) |
| 2024 | 7.6% (6.7–8.7) | 19.9% (18.7–21.3) |
Source and method
Source: Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data query 2022–2024: time spent in front of a TV, computer, cellphone or other electronic device, not including schoolwork, on most weekdays. Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, supported by HRSA, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. License: Survey data: HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau, collected by the U.S. Census Bureau (public, U.S. Government); query results courtesy of CAHMI, childhealthdata.org.
Survey question: "On most weekdays, about how much time does this child usually spend in front of a TV, computer, cellphone or other electronic device…" — not including schoolwork. Answers: less than 1 hour, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, or 4 or more hours.
Percentages and 95% confidence intervals as published in the Data Resource Center's NSCH query for 2022 and later, not recalculated. The chart shows 2022–2024 only: the Data Resource Center notes that its archived 2016–2021 estimates are not comparable with 2022 and later because of weighting and imputation changes in the Census Bureau's public use files. The archived 2018–2021 estimates, which use the same question wording, are in a separate CSV for reference; in 2016–2017 the survey asked two separate questions (TV and video games, and computers and phones). Population estimates for 2024 are from the same tables. Other surveys in the text (Common Sense Media 2025, Pew Research Center 2025) are cited as published and not included in the data files.
Download the data (CSV) Share under 1 hour a day (CSV) Archived 2018–2021 estimates, not comparable (CSV)
FAQ
How much screen time for kids is OK?
There's no single safe number. For children ages 2–5, pediatricians' earlier guidance suggested about an hour a day of quality programming, and the AAP's 2026 policy now focuses less on hours than on what screens replace, what children watch, and whether it's designed to hook them. A useful test: are sleep, play, meals, and time together protected?
How do I manage screen time for kids?
Set limits in episodes or with a timer rather than minutes, agree them before the screen goes on, and have the next activity ready. Keep meals, bedrooms, and the hour before bed screen-free. Choose shows and apps that end, turn off autoplay, and watch together when you can. Consistent routines work better than daily negotiation.
Is screen time bad for kids?
Not in itself, but a lot of it is linked to problems. Research finds small links between more screen time and more behavior and attention difficulties in young children, and screens often push out sleep and active play. Quality, context, and quantity all matter: a shared show is different from hours of autoplay alone.
Should parents limit screen time for kids?
Yes, especially for young children, but limits work best as routines rather than battles: screen-free meals and bedtimes, a clear end to each session, and devices kept out of bedrooms. The AAP's current advice is to think about what screens displace and what content children see, not only to count minutes.
How many hours of screen time is healthy for kids?
There's no single number that research has established as healthy. Pediatric advice focuses on whether screen time displaces sleep, play, and conversation. In the NSCH, about 92% of children under 6 are reported at less than four hours, and more than a third (36.0% in 2024) at less than one hour on most weekdays. Aim for screens to fit around the essentials, not replace them.
The child's app in the course runs three minutes and ends by itself; the real practice happens with you, away from the screen.