An initiative to limit screen-time in children aged between 6 and 18 years in an urban area in Puducherry: a qualitative study.

Background Recently television viewing and use of computers have increased considerably and has become a necessary evil in the society. The amount of Screen Time (ST) exposure of a child largely depends on the views of their parents. Screen time among adolescents have resulted in multiple problems Objective To explore the perceptions of parents of children aged 6-10 years and adolescents of 11-18 years residing in an area of urban Puducherry regarding screen-time and develop health education material to decrease ST. Materials and methods A community-based, Qualitative study was conducted during April 2018 in Urban Puducherry. Two FGDs among the adolescents t and one FGD among the mothers of 6-10 years old children to capture their perceptions on ST Results and conclusion The three FGD included 30 participants. The main categories that evolved among the adolescents were Benefits, barriers and influencing factors of ST and ways to reduce them. Mothers expressed their concerns regarding screen time and efforts taken to reduce it. Our study showed that curtailing ST is possible by friendly parenting.