An Australian-led study published in The Lancet has found that just a couple of hours of glued to a device each day is could be enough to trigger depression or physical illness in children.

But leading parenting expert and author Dr Justin Coulson explained it was a difficult area to study.

“The research around this is really complicated around this, it’s very difficult for us to get high quality data,” he told Scott Emerson.

He said children were using screens for more than just entertainment, and asking the question of how much screen time a child is getting might be missing the point.

“What we’re better off doing is asking what are kids doing on the screen, what is their digital diet?”

He said it’s more about whether it’s “active or passive”.

Press PLAY below to hear his explanation on 4BC Drive

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