Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Acknowledged
Establish a national ‘Screen Cross Code’ public health campaign for children’s safe screen use.
Recommendation
We echo the call of our witness Professor Sandeep Ranote for the creation of a national public health strategy akin to the 1970s ‘Green Cross Code’. A ‘Screen Cross Code’ would be a nationwide public health campaign, which would use short effective messages to educate the public on best practice with screen use for children and young people, as well as the potential negative health impacts resulting from excessive screen use or exposure to content that may lead to body dissatisfaction. This should include limits on daily screen use, promotion of social media sabbaticals, having digital sunrises/sunsets, as well as prompts to encourage discussion between parents and their children if there is content that could cause concern relating to body image and self-esteem. We recommend that the Department of Health and Social Care plays a leading role, in collaboration with the Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in this work, given its implications for young people’s health. (Paragraph 69) The impact of body image on mental and physical health 35 Body image and experience of healthcare services
Government response summary AI-generated
Health Education England, the General Medical Council, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council welcome the recommendation and are committed to ensuring healthcare professionals have the necessary resources and training to discuss and address body image issues. However, the response does not commit to the proposed 'Screen Cross Code' national public health campaign.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
We welcome the committee’s attention on this matter. The government recognises that there is a need to promote good screen habits for children and make sure that screen time does not prevent children from engaging in activities vital for their health, such as exercise, socialising with family and friends, and sleep. We are aware that current evidence shows that not all screen time is harmful for children’s health and that much more research is needed before developing national guidance or consistent limits on screen use. DHSC will collaborate with DCMS and DfE to establish how best to gather robust evidence on this issue before deciding whether to progress with a nationwide public health campaign. Any future public health campaign would also be contingent on future funding settlements.
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