Smarter screen consumption today for stronger minds tomorrow
If you sleep about eight hours a day, that leaves 16 waking hours. Spending three of those hours on a device adds up to nearly 20 percent of your day staring at a screen. A friend recently described it as “the energy sink of phones” and “20 percent of your life stolen by corporate technology… not by friends, family, living, or nature.” Screen use is also starting earlier than ever, with many schools adopting one-to-one technology programs that put a device in every student’s hands by kindergarten or even earlier. From there, digital consumption only increases.
Recent reports show that teens now average around eight hours a day on screens, pre-teens about five, and the average American around seven. At those rates, we are spending nearly half our lives in virtual spaces. Screens are a constant part of children’s lives, arguably making digital habits and online behavior more relevant to their futures than many traditional subjects that play a smaller role in adulthood. We all need to reflect on how we spend our time online, what we consume, and learn how it is actively shaping the way we think, feel, and connect with others.
From fast food to fast feeds: Doomscrolling is junk food for the brain
What you eat has significant impacts on your overall health. Eating nothing but candy, chips, and fast food will leave you feeling lethargic and gross, both physically and mentally. The same goes for what you consume online. The quantity and quality of your screen use undeniably impacts your well-being. Doomscrolling of positive or negative content will leave you feeling drained and down on yourself. Countless studies have shown how social media access is fueling rising mental health issues in America, especially among young people.
Though they may seem like separate issues, research shows a connection between poor dietary habits and increased screen time. Both stem from a shared root cause: the instant gratification they provide, which can reduce self-control over time. While young children are still developing impulse control, the easy accessibility of social media—much like junk food—makes it hard to resist. It’s hard for adults to resist too.
Social media constantly bombards users with information, making it hard to have a moment alone with your thoughts. When kids have non-stop screen time, they do not have time to develop the emotional capacities for self-reflection and growth. Managing screen use requires practicing delayed gratification and intentional choices to disconnect. If you always have access to whatever content you want, whenever you want, you never learn to manage your time effectively or appreciate content in its proper context. For some communities, the impact has been worse than for others.
Screen time, nutrition, and worsening inequality
Low-income communities have been disproportionately affected by poor nutrition and excessive screen time, made worse by COVID. Many low-income areas are food deserts, with limited access to affordable, nutritious food. Families in these areas often have no choice but to buy cheaper, unhealthy options, contributing to health disparities, including higher obesity rates. Similarly, lower-income children spend more time on entertainment-based screen activities than their wealthier counterparts.
Why? In part, lower-income families have less access to after-school activities, while wealthier families can afford structured programs that keep kids engaged and away from screens. Research shows that youth from higher-income families tend to use digital media in more learning-oriented and moderate ways, leading to better outcomes. These habits are often reinforced by expensive schooling and extracurriculars. Meanwhile, the higher screen time among lower-income children reduces in-person interactions and exposure to educational programming, further widening gaps in well-being.
Social media content also affects kids differently depending on gender. Young women and girls experience higher rates of body dysmorphia and eating disorders than young men and boys. A meta-analysis published in 2008 highlighted the media’s impact on body dissatisfaction and eating among women. Social media has made pressures worse by exposing young women to endless images of attractive, physically fit models, and reinforcing unrealistic body standards that contribute to long-term mental health challenges. Having instant access to these images on demand, whether they actively seek them out or not, mirrors the way one may find junk food in practically any store in America. You are bound to come across them.
Managing screen use for a healthier life
We know that digital tools have the potential to be immensely beneficial, from supporting diverse learners to being more mobile and adaptable than other educational tools. Apps, platforms, and devices can connect, educate, entertain, and more. Yet, for all the good they offer, the risks and consequences from addictive designs and inappropriate use often impede and outweigh the good.
Like food, we need to set limits and restrictions, especially with the junk. Sugary snacks, fried foods, and spicy chips may not be too harmful every so often, but imagine devouring huge portions and at every meal and for every snack. Similarly, mind-numbing endless scrolling, exposure to inappropriate violent and sexual content, and engagement with various extreme opinions are some of the major risks children face online, particularly when unmonitored and unmentored.
A balanced food diet involves making intentional choices. In the same way, a digital diet requires a thoughtful and informed approach to screen use. Like any habit, it must be developed over time with coaching and instruction to support long-term well-being and balance.
Making the case for school-based education on digital consumption
I remember learning about nutrition from the food pyramid, but since 2011, kids have been taught using the MyPlate model, which updated previously outdated food science that was heavily influenced by the food industry. Learning about nutritional value and its connection to overall well-being was reinforced throughout primary and secondary schooling, usually being explicitly required in educational standards for health classes.
Given that digital consumption is a big part of our daily lives, we should consider how much, what type, and why something is part of our diet. With the advent of personal computing and the popularization of this by Apple, constantly being on screens was seen as a way of being modern and productive. However, the negative social and health impacts of this mindset are now being felt globally. Unmitigated screen use has high comorbidity with other health issues, with studies linking high levels of screen use to bad eating habits, including mindless snacking and unplanned meals.
These habits contribute to a vicious cycle of screen overuse, poor eating habits, and less physical activity, a disastrous combination for cognitive, mental, and physical development. Similar to how we teach about nutritional value in schools and update models of education when they become outdated, a new educational approach is needed for digital use, as it has far-reaching consequences for society that go beyond food’s impact on personal well-being.
Diet is a learned skill
We do not start out deciding what to eat on our own. Family meals are our earliest exposures to food and shape many of our food preferences, which then evolve through school meals, shared meals with friends, and nutrition education. In the same way, children’s digital habits are shaped early by what they see and experience. By teaching them how to implement a digital diet, we can mitigate many of the harms associated with screen overuse and help them build better relationships with technology. Instead of letting technology dictate their habits, they can learn to use it in ways that support their growth.
Teaching mindful and intentional use is not just relevant, it is necessary. As one of the defining intergenerational challenges of our time, it must be a regular part of our conversations at home, in classrooms, and in communities.
About the Author
Jane Kim is a former Chicago Public Schools teacher and the founder of KindEd, a social media literacy curriculum provider. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago and a BA in political science from the University of Virginia. When she’s not working on KindEd’s mission—who are we kidding?—she’s always working on KindEd.
Contributors: Joe Hageman