UK pushes one‑hour screen limit

The United Kingdom government has issued new guidance telling parents to aim for no more than one hour of screen time a day for children aged two to five. (gov.uk) The advice, published on March 27, 2026, also says children under two should avoid screen time except for shared activities that support bonding, interaction and conversation. It tells families to keep screens out of mealtimes and the hour before bed. (gov.uk) The guidance sits on the government’s Best Start in Life site and was backed by the Department for Education after what it said were parents’ requests for clearer advice. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the aim was to help families “cut through uncertainty and conflicting advice online.” (beststartinlife.gov.uk, gov.uk) The one-hour figure is not a law or a ban. The official wording says parents of two- to five-year-olds should “try to keep it to no more than one hour a day,” while also steering children away from fast-paced or distracting content. (beststartinlife.gov.uk, educationhub.blog.gov.uk) The government based the advice on a review by the Early Years Screen Time Advisory Group, which was set up by the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care. The panel was chaired by Professor Russell Viner and Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza. (gov.uk) That report said the strongest evidence of harm is indirect: screens can displace sleep, play, movement and face-to-face interaction in the years before school. It also said fast-paced content and background television can make it harder for very young children to focus or interact with adults. (gov.uk, theconversation.com) Doctors and child-health groups broadly welcomed the move. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the new advice gives parents “clear, trusted tools,” while also noting in earlier guidance that evidence for a simple, direct “toxic” effect from screen time alone has long been contested. (rcpch.ac.uk, justonenorfolk.nhs.uk) Local coverage showed why the advice may be hard to apply evenly. In reporting highlighted this week, Birmingham-area mothers gave sharply different views on whether a one-hour limit fits modern family life, with some describing tablets as a routine part of busy households and others saying stricter limits are workable. (msn.com) The government’s own explainer says the goal is not to remove screens entirely but to make sure they do not replace sleep, conversation, outdoor play and shared family time. For parents in Britain, the new benchmark is now one hour a day for ages two to five — and less than that for children under two. (educationhub.blog.gov.uk, beststartinlife.gov.uk)