Why screen time for under-fives should be limited to one hour a day
By BBC, March 30, 2026Children under the age of five should be limited to one hour of screen time a day, while under-twos should not be watching screens alone, new government guidance says.
It advises parents to steer clear of fast-paced videos and use screens together where possible. The guidance also suggests “screen swaps” – taking screens away to read stories together or playing simple games at mealtimes.
The guidance is the first evidence-backed, practical advice issued by the government, but ministers say it will be kept under review as more evidence emerges.
“This is still quite an unknown area in lots of respects, and we’ve taken a precautionary approach,” Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said.
Children’s commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza and Russell Viner, professor of paediatrics and adolescent health at University College London, have reviewed the latest evidence, finding that long periods of time spent on screens alone can affect children’s sleep and physical activity, which are key to their development.
It covers all types of screen use, including computers, tablets, mobile phones, and televisions.
The government has previously said that by the age of two, about 98% of children are watching screens daily.
But the guidance says not all screen time is the same – watching screens with an engaged adult is linked to better cognitive development than solo use.
Parents should also lead by example, the guidance recommends, as children’s brains are “like sponges – they’ll copy your screen use habits” and encourages being present with children.
It comes as the government is separately carrying out a consultation on whether the UK should follow Australia’s lead by making it illegal for under-16s to access many social media sites.
Ahead of the guidance for under-fives being published on Friday, BBC News followed the Montastier family in Manchester for a week as they tried to cut back on screen time.
Fast-paced content
At the Institute for the Science of Early Years at the University of East London, scientists have been studying the different content watched by under-fives.
Observing three-year-old Alex’s brain activity using a sensory cap, Prof Sam Wass says he is particularly interested in “moments where his brain can’t keep up anymore, where the content is happening at a speed which is too fast for his brain to track”.
“If stuff is coming at us too fast, something called the fight-or-flight stress system kicks in, where your heart starts beating faster, and you start to get a lot of energy released to your muscles,” he says.
“Of course, this isn’t actually useful anymore, because this is happening when children are sitting still on a chair watching screen content.”
The researchers say the nature of content aimed at children has changed significantly over the past 20 to 30 years.
Previously, children’s programmes were generally much more slow-paced, while today’s content is much faster, featuring lots of movement and talking.