Promoting Healthy Digital Media Habits Within Families

Sometimes telling a kid no screens at the dinner table doesn’t work within the family context.

Not when parents are looking at their phones during the meal.

It turns out, parents’ digital media habits are almost 10 times more influential on teen problematic internet use than screen time limits.

Just ask Libby Milkovich, MD, FAAP, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and researcher at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.

Milkovich studies the relationship between parents, children, and technology. In 2017, she started the Teens and Screens project and has integrated community voices into national interventions to prevent problematic internet use and promote positive digital media habits.

“I started by providing education on digital media, but I learned what the community is most concerned about and what works and what doesn’t work online,” Milkovich said. “I use that information and connect with other pediatricians to create evidence-based interventions that can be accessible to anyone.”

Encouraging open dialogue

Coaching healthy family internet use habits can more effectively address problematic internet use rather than enforcing screen time limits. Strong collaborations with schools, community centers, and local nonprofits have engaged youth and parents in conversations about child mental health and digital media behavior.

The pediatrician leads at least one session a month with families to discuss how compulsive or risky internet use negatively affects children’s outcomes like declining sleep, mental health issues, and poor academic performance.

And it’s not only adults who are looking to change these outcomes. Milkovich has had kids come into her clinic to open up about the difficulties they face with technology.

“A lot of people think adolescents are reluctant to change digital media habits,” Milkovich said. “But our systems make digital media an easy tool for them to rely on for a variety of reasons, and kids recognize the impairment that it causes.”

Through her research, Milkovich is also conducting focus groups and interviews to gather community input.

Partnering for intervention

After conducting in-person or virtual community presentations, Milkovich works with a network of pediatricians with the American Academy of Pediatrics to share findings and develop interventions.

They helped create the Family Media Use Plan. This resource allows parents and caregivers to develop a plan that considers the health, education, and entertainment needs of the individual child and the whole family.

“It’s really important to have that whole family conversation as opposed to just thinking about the children alone and their habits,” Milkovich said. “As adults, we need to think about how our media use influences the habits of our kids.”

While creating their plan, families set personalized media priorities that fit within their values and lifestyles. Some priorities include screen time, content control, and where devices are being used. The method has tips to be successful and can be revised as time passes.

Milkovich also collaborates with a national nonprofit, Screen Sanity. This group started in Kansas City to help families reap the benefits of technology and reduce the harmful use of screens. Milkovich provides expertise and data for Screen Sanity for their tools and training that equip parents to raise healthy kids in the digital world.

A safe digital environment

When Milkovich first started her pediatric training, she was told to advise two hours of screen time or less. Today, she’s learned digital media advice is more effective when you understand the full family context.

The pediatrician said teens and families are asking for interventions, and there is more opportunity to research and develop more actions around the digital media environment.

“When you get people together to talk about digital media, there’s so much hope,” Milkovich said. “We can’t encourage healthy habits alone. And because digital media is such an awesome tool, we’re all still learning its potential.”

In response to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report on child health, the Children’s Hospital Association is highlighting ways children’s hospitals are helping children live longer and healthier lives by confronting the root causes of chronic illnesses.