ArticleBMC public health2023
Screen-viewing behaviours of children before and after the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK: a mixed methods study.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Screen exposure and circadian disruption in paediatric epilepsy: risks and technology-based approaches - a literature review.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2026Review
- Primary school physical activity culture in the UK: findings from a four-month rapid ethnography in three schools.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Screen time and chronic neck pain in Peru: A comparative population-based cross-sectional study in the COVID-19 post-pandemic period.PloS one · 2026Article
- Associations between parental and child physical activity and screen time during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Humanities & social sciences communications · 2026Article
- The complexity of promoting physical activity in English state primary schools: an in-depth qualitative analysis of the role of social context.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Designing context-specific physical activity interventions for English primary schools: key learning from a four-month rapid ethnography.BMC public health · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Multifactorial Determinants of Childhood Eating Behaviors: Insights and Interventions Using the Social Ecological Model.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- "We just have to work with what we've got": a qualitative analysis of contextual challenges in facilities and resources for pupil physical activity in English primary schools.BMC public health · 2025Article
- From stress to screen: family factors on the path to problematic media use in children aged 4-11.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Dry Eye Syndrome in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Korean journal of ophthalmology : KJO · 2024Article
- Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Physical Activity Participation in Children and Adults Living With Congenital Heart Disease: A Narrative Review.CJC pediatric and congenital heart disease · 2024Review
- [Consequences of digital media on the health of children and adolescents with a focus on the consumption of unhealthy foods].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Review
- Physical activity, recreational screen time, and depressive symptoms among Chinese children and adolescents: a three-wave cross-lagged study during the COVID-19 pandemic.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Move Well, Feel Good: Feasibility and acceptability of a school-based motor competence intervention to promote positive mental health.PloS one · 2024Article
- The status of active after-school clubs among primary school children in England (UK) after the COVD-19 lockdowns: implications for policy and practice.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Article
- The new normal for children's physical activity and screen viewing: a multi-perspective qualitative analysis of behaviours a year after the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Subjective behavioral measures in myopic and pre-myopic children before and after the COVID lockdown.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Comparison of children's physical activity profiles before and after COVID-19 lockdowns: A latent profile analysis.PloS one · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRestrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased screen-viewing among children, especially during strict periods of lockdown. However, the extent to which screen-viewing patterns in UK school children have changed post lockdowns is unclear. The aim of this paper is to examine how screen-viewing changed in 10-11-year-old children over the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic, how this compares to before the pandemic, and the influences on screen-viewing behaviour.
methodsThis is a mixed methods study with 10-11-year-olds from 50 schools in the Greater Bristol area, UK. Cross-sectional questionnaire data on minutes of weekday and weekend television (TV) viewing and total leisure screen-viewing were collected pre-COVID-19 in 2017-18 (N = 1,296) and again post-lockdowns in 2021 (N = 393). Data were modelled using Poisson mixed models, adjusted for age, gender, household education and seasonality, with interactions by gender and household education. Qualitative data were drawn from six focus groups (47 children) and 21 one-to-one parent interviews that explored screen-viewing behaviour during the pandemic and analysed using the framework method.
resultsTotal leisure screen-viewing was 11% (95% CI: 12%-18%) higher post-lockdown compared to pre-COVID-19 on weekdays, and 8% (95% CI: 6%-10%) on weekends, equating to around 12-15 min. TV-viewing (including streaming) was higher by 68% (95% CI: 63%-74%) on weekdays and 80% (95% CI: 75%-85%) on weekend days. Differences in both were higher for girls and children from households with lower educational attainment. Qualitative themes reflected an unavoidable increase in screen-based activities during lockdowns, the resulting habitualisation of screen-viewing post-lockdown, and the role of the parent in reducing post-2020/21 lockdown screen-viewing.
conclusionsAlthough screen-viewing was higher post-lockdown compared to pre-COVID-19, the high increases reported during lockdowns were not, on average, sustained post-lockdown. This may be attributed to a combination of short-term fluctuations during periods of strict restrictions, parental support in regulating post-lockdown behaviour and age-related, rather than COVID-19-specific, increases in screen-viewing. However, socio-economic differences in our sample suggest that not all families were able to break the COVID-19-related adoption of screen-viewing, and that some groups may need additional support in managing a healthy balance of screen-viewing and other activities following the lockdowns.
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