A Cross-Sectional Study on Media Parenting in Rural Part of India and Its Impact on Children

Background: Media and gadgets are increasingly being used in urban as well as rural pockets both among adults as well as children. Excessive use is a concern due to its various negative consequences. Objectives: To assess: i) pattern, duration, types of media screen exposure and reason for use of media by children, ii) assess the parental knowledge, attitude and ability as a media mentor for their children and iii) impact of media usage on school performance. The study showed, two third of children themselves decided the media content without any absolute knowledge about healthy and appropriateness of the chosen one. Study Design: Qualitative cross sectional study. Participants: Two hundred children <18 years, who were visiting the hospital for OPD services along with their parents. Intervention: A predesigned questionnaire for data collection. Results: The mean age for child media exposure was found to be 6.4± 3.8 years. Media use on school-days was 1.9 against 2.7 hours on holidays by children. Media contents were mostly cartoon and mobile games with television and mobile being the commonest mode. Poor school performance was associated with media use of 2 hours in school days amongst > 5 year old children [HR =1.38 (95CI= 1.01-1.89), p=0.04]. Many parents knew about few bad consequences of media but unable to regulate in absence of proper knowledge and awareness. Conclusion: Proper media parenting is an unmet need not only in urban but also in rural areas. Media use during school-days should be discouraged. Interventions like parental media education with involvement of paediatrician, school teacher, psychologist and policy makers’ will be needed.