Higher body fat linked to time five-year-olds spend on screens

Five-year-old Irish children spending more than one-and-a-half hours a day glued to screens have higher weight and body fat than their counterparts with less daily screen time.

The study of five-year-old boys and girls, which was carried out by the UCD Perinatal Research Centre, found that almost three-quarters of participating children exceeded the maximum recommended dose of screen time of an hour a day.

The research, headed by Dr Aisling Geraghty, found that screen time is linked to weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat.