Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30606703›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2019

Effects of screentime on the health and well-being of children and adolescents: a systematic review of reviews.

Neza Stiglic, Russell M Viner

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07247305 (Screen Culture's Impact on Generation Z Adolescents' Physical Activity, Posture and Well-being in Egypt), which is not on this map. Cited by 493 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
493citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
374.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07247305 completednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Screen Culture's Impact on Generation Z Adolescents' Physical Activity, Posture and Well-being in Egypt: A Cross-sectional Study

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorSinai UniversityRan2025 to 2026Enrolled532ConditionsAdolescence, Adolescent, Well Being, PostureArmsBMI Measurement, Screen Time Questionnaire (QUEST), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Q-BAPHYP, PedsQL™
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

493 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,157 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Interventions to Reduce Screen Time in Preschool-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
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  4. Digital Devices Use and Sleep in Adolescents: An Umbrella Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
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  18. Untapped potential: Population health co-benefits of restricting social media and smartphone use among young people.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026
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433 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Neza StiglicPopulation, policy and practice research programme, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
Russell M VinerPopulation, policy and practice research programme, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3047-2247
University College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo systematically examine the evidence of harms and benefits relating to time spent on screens for children and young people's (CYP) health and well-being, to inform policy.

methodsSystematic review of reviews undertaken to answer the question 'What is the evidence for health and well-being effects of screentime in children and adolescents (CYP)?' Electronic databases were searched for systematic reviews in February 2018. Eligible reviews reported associations between time on screens (screentime; any type) and any health/well-being outcome in CYP. Quality of reviews was assessed and strength of evidence across reviews evaluated.

results13 reviews were identified (1 high quality, 9 medium and 3 low quality). 6 addressed body composition; 3 diet/energy intake; 7 mental health; 4 cardiovascular risk; 4 for fitness; 3 for sleep; 1 pain; 1 asthma. We found moderately strong evidence for associations between screentime and greater obesity/adiposity and higher depressive symptoms; moderate evidence for an association between screentime and higher energy intake, less healthy diet quality and poorer quality of life. There was weak evidence for associations of screentime with behaviour problems, anxiety, hyperactivity and inattention, poorer self-esteem, poorer well-being and poorer psychosocial health, metabolic syndrome, poorer cardiorespiratory fitness, poorer cognitive development and lower educational attainments and poor sleep outcomes. There was no or insufficient evidence for an association of screentime with eating disorders or suicidal ideation, individual cardiovascular risk factors, asthma prevalence or pain. Evidence for threshold effects was weak. We found weak evidence that small amounts of daily screen use is not harmful and may have some benefits.

conclusionsThere is evidence that higher levels of screentime is associated with a variety of health harms for CYP, with evidence strongest for adiposity, unhealthy diet, depressive symptoms and quality of life. Evidence to guide policy on safe CYP screentime exposure is limited. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018089483.

Indexed as

Adolescent BehaviorChild BehaviorScreen TimeAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolDepressionExerciseFeeding BehaviorHumansPediatric ObesityQuality of LifeReview Literature as Topicchil healthmental healthobesityscreentime

Identifiers

PMID30606703
PMCPMC6326346
OpenAlexW2907375908

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.