The more time spent watching television and playing video games was associated with poorer academic performance

Screen time overall wasn't associated with the academic performance of children and adolescents in this observational study. Called a systematic review and meta-analysis, this research consisted of a review of 58 studies from 23 countries (involving 480,000 participants ages 4 to 18) and a meta-analysis that combined the results of 30 of those studies involving 106,000 participants. The studies examined time or frequency for computer, internet, mobile phone, television, video game and overall screen media use and academic performance including composite scores, language and mathematics.

While authors report the amount of time spent overall on screens wasn't associated with academic performance, the more time spent watching television and playing video games was associated with poorer academic performance. Previous research has produced conflicting findings about the association between screen media use and academic performance. A limitation of this research is that causal inferences can't be made. The findings of this current report suggest education and public health professionals should consider supervision and reduced time spent on screens.