Video game playing among preschoolers: prevalence and home environment in three provinces from Turkey

Int J Environ Health Res. 2022 Oct;32(10):2233-2246. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2021.1950653. Epub 2021 Jul 14.

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the video game habits and their relationship with home environment in children 2-5 years in Turkey. A structured questionnaire about the child's demographic, screen, and video gaming characteristics was completed by parents in five health centers from three provinces. One-quarter of 1245 preschoolers were found to play video games. The prevalence of playing video games was higher in older age, male gender, low parental education, families with 3 or more children, having a game console, computers and tablets at home, child's screen time of more than 2 hours per day, child's non-compliance with the parental screen rules, and presence of someone else playing videogame at home. Of the parents, 54.5% did not know the name of the video game the child was playing. Parents should be counseled about supervising on their children's video game playing habits and selection of well-designed games with the right content.

Keywords: Children; devices; digital games; media; parental rules; preschool; screen time; video game.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Home Environment*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prevalence
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Turkey
  • Video Games*