Screen Time and Athletic Development: What the Research Says for Parents of Young Athletes

For parents raising young athletes, screen time can be one of the most difficult habits to navigate. Phones, video games, YouTube, social media, and streaming are now a normal part of childhood—but so are the concerns about what excessive screen use may mean for physical activity, sleep, recovery, focus, and youth athlete development.

It can be tempting to reduce the conversation to:

Screens are bad. Sports are good.

The research suggests a more nuanced approach.

For sports parents, one of the most useful questions may be:

What is screen time replacing?

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found associations between higher recreational screen use and lower physical activity, poorer sleep patterns, and other health outcomes among children and teenagers.

That doesn’t mean every hour spent gaming or watching videos is hurting your child’s athletic performance. It does mean parents should pay attention when screen habits begin crowding out the behaviors young athletes need to develop.

This is the research behind our conversation in Episode 9 of the Parenting Athletes Podcast: Screen Time vs. Athletic Development.

Screen Time and Physical Activity in Young Athletes

One of the biggest concerns surrounding screen time for kids and young athletes is its relationship with physical activity.

Recent CDC data provides useful context.

Using data collected between July 2021 and December 2023, researchers examined screen use and physical activity among U.S. children and adolescents ages 12–17.

Screen time included activities such as watching programs, playing games, using the internet, and using social media outside of schoolwork.

Researchers found:

The pattern was clear: physical activity decreased as screen time increased.

Among youth reporting two hours or less of daily screen time, 70.4% participated in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days or every day. That dropped to 54.4% among those reporting four or more hours. (CDC)

That’s a difference of 16 percentage points.

However, sports parents should understand an important limitation of this research.

Association does not mean causation.

The study doesn’t prove that screens directly caused children to become less active. It shows that higher screen use and lower physical activity were associated.

For parents thinking about screen time and athletic development, that’s still a relationship worth paying attention to.

The Screen-Time Problem May Actually Be Displacement

There are only so many hours in a young athlete’s day.

School. Homework. Sports practice. Sleep. Meals. Family time. Friends. Recovery. Free play. And screens.

When screen use increases, something else may have to decrease.

This is the concept of displacement, and it’s an important way for sports parents to think about technology.

Instead of only asking:

“How many hours of screen time should my child have?”

Consider asking:

“What is their screen time replacing?”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages families to think about whether media is crowding out activities important to children’s health and development, including sleep and physical activity. (AAP)

For young athletes, parents can ask:

• Is screen time replacing physical activity?
• Is it cutting into sleep?
• Is my athlete getting enough recovery?
• Is screen use replacing outdoor or unstructured play?
• Is it interfering with schoolwork or concentration?
• Is it affecting family time or face-to-face relationships?

Those questions may tell you more than the screen-time counter alone.

What Research Says About High Screen Time in Teenagers

A larger CDC study published in Preventing Chronic Disease in 2025 gives sports parents another important look at the issue.

Researchers analyzed nationally representative data from the 2021–2023 National Health Interview Survey–Teen involving adolescents ages 12–17.

The researchers classified four or more hours per day of non-school screen use as high screen time for purposes of the study.

Approximately 50.4% of teenagers surveyed reported four or more hours of daily non-school screen time. (CDC)

Researchers found several differences between teenagers reporting less than four hours and those reporting four or more:

Higher non-school screen time was associated with less frequent physical activity, less frequent strength training, poorer sleep patterns, and other health outcomes. (CDC)

Again, these findings don’t prove that screens caused these behaviors.

But when thinking about athletic development in children and teenagers, several of those behaviors matter considerably.

Screen Time, Sleep, and Athletic Recovery

Athletic development doesn’t happen only during practice.

Young athletes also need time to sleep and recover.

That’s why the relationship between screen time and sleep deserves particular attention from sports parents.

In the 2025 CDC study, 59.9% of teenagers reporting four or more hours of non-school screen use were infrequently well-rested.

Among teenagers reporting less than four hours, that figure was 40.1%.

The difference was also substantial for sleep routines:

49.2% of the higher-screen group reported an irregular sleep routine compared with 29.2% of those with lower screen use. (CDC)

Researchers discussed several potential mechanisms connecting screen use and sleep, including delayed bedtimes and the effects of light exposure on circadian timing and alertness.

For a developing athlete, the practical question becomes:

Is technology interfering with recovery?

If gaming, scrolling, or watching videos regularly keeps a child awake later than intended, the problem isn’t simply that they were “on a screen.”

It’s the sleep being displaced.

And for sports parents trying to support healthy youth athlete development, sleep and recovery deserve protection just as much as practice time.

Screen Time and Teen Mental Health

The same CDC study also identified associations between high recreational screen use and several mental-health and social outcomes.

Among teenagers reporting four or more hours of non-school screen time:

• 25.9% reported depression symptoms, compared with 9.5% among those reporting less than four hours.
• 27.1% reported anxiety symptoms, compared with 12.3%.
• 48.6% reported infrequent social and emotional support, compared with 35.1%. (CDC)

These statistics should be interpreted carefully.

The research does not establish that screen time causes depression or anxiety.

Because the study was cross-sectional, researchers could identify associations but couldn’t establish cause and effect. The relationship may also work in multiple directions—for example, some young people experiencing isolation or emotional difficulties may turn to screens more frequently.

The takeaway for parents isn’t to fear technology.

It’s to pay attention to the whole child.

Athletic development isn’t only physical.

A young athlete’s sleep, mental well-being, relationships, confidence, attention, and recovery all matter.

How Much Screen Time Should a Young Athlete Have?

This may be the question most sports parents want answered.

Is two hours okay? Three? Should young athletes have stricter screen-time limits than other children?

For older children and teenagers, current AAP guidance doesn’t recommend one universal number of screen hours that works for every child.

Instead, the AAP encourages parents to consider the quality, context, and balance of media use and whether technology is interfering with important activities. (AAP)

That distinction is important.

Two young athletes could both spend three hours using screens and have very different habits.

One child may have:

• finished schoolwork,
• gone to practice,
• played outside,
• eaten dinner with the family,
• and still get sufficient sleep.

Another may spend those same three hours scrolling late at night, lose sleep, wake up tired, and struggle through practice the following afternoon.

Same screen time. Different tradeoffs.

That’s why healthy screen habits for young athletes require more than counting minutes.

Organized Sports Don’t Replace Free Play

There’s another piece of the athletic development conversation that’s easy to overlook.

Being on a youth sports team doesn’t automatically mean a child is getting all the movement they need.

The CDC’s physical-activity measure included exercising, playing sports, or participating in other physical activity for at least 60 minutes per day.

That distinction matters.

Young athletes also benefit from opportunities to simply move and play: running outside, playing pickup basketball, throwing a football, riding a bike, playing tag, trying another sport, and experimenting with what their bodies can do without a coach directing every repetition.

Screen time doesn’t only compete with formal athletic training.

It can compete with unstructured movement and play.

And those experiences are also part of raising healthy, active children.

Five Questions Sports Parents Can Ask About Screen Time

Instead of turning screen time into a daily argument over minutes, look at the behaviors surrounding it.

1. Is my young athlete sleeping enough?
Pay particular attention to screens around bedtime and whether your child regularly wakes feeling rested.

2. Is my child moving enough outside organized sports?
Practice shouldn’t necessarily be their only opportunity to move.

3. Is my athlete getting enough recovery?
More activity isn’t always the answer either. Growing athletes need physical and mental downtime.

4. Can my child disengage from a screen?
Can they put the device down when it’s time for school, practice, meals, sleep, or family?

5. Is technology supporting or replacing connection?
Gaming and social media can facilitate relationships, but they can also crowd out face-to-face interaction.

These questions shift the focus from screen restriction to healthy development.

Parents’ Screen Habits Matter Too

Screen-time boundaries are more difficult to teach when children see adults constantly checking their own phones.

The AAP encourages parents and caregivers to model healthy media habits themselves.

That could mean:

• Device-free family meals
• Phones away during conversations
• Screen-free periods before bedtime
• Regular outdoor family activities
• Parents following the same household rules they expect children to follow

For sports parents, this is another opportunity to model the habits we want our athletes to develop.

We don’t only teach through what we say.

We teach through what we normalize.

The Bottom Line: Protect What Young Athletes Need

The research doesn’t support a simplistic message that all screens are harmful.

But it does give sports parents reasons to pay attention.

CDC research found that physical activity decreased as screen time increased among youth ages 12–17. (CDC)

Another CDC study found that teenagers reporting four or more hours of non-school screen time were more likely to report infrequent physical activity, infrequent strength training, poorer sleep patterns, and several mental-health and social outcomes. (CDC)

Meanwhile, the AAP encourages parents to consider the quality and balance of media use and protect activities such as sleep, physical activity, play, and relationships. (AAP)

For parents raising young athletes, that gives us a better framework:

The enemy isn’t necessarily technology. It’s displacement.

When screens consistently take the place of sleep, movement, recovery, attention, play, and relationships, youth athlete development can get squeezed.

Great sports parenting isn’t simply about taking screens away.

It’s about protecting the habits young athletes need to thrive—on and off the field.

Listen: Screen Time vs. Athletic Development | Parenting Athletes Podcast

Want to take the research into the real world of parenting young athletes?

In Episode 9: Screen Time vs. Athletic Development of the Parenting Athletes Podcast, Alex Compton and Kevin Dalafu discuss how parents can navigate screens, youth sports, athletic development, and family boundaries without reducing the issue to “screens are bad.”

Listen to Episode 9 of the Parenting Athletes Podcast, now streaming on Spotify and YouTube, or read the full episode recap: Screen Time versus Athletic Development.

Research & References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years Who Participated in 60 Minutes of Physical Activity Most Days or Every Day, by Daily Hours of Screen Time Use — United States, July 2021–December 2023. MMWR, 2024. (CDC)

Zablotsky B, Ng AE, Black LI, Haile G, Bose J, Jones JR, et al. Associations Between Screen Time Use and Health Outcomes Among US Teenagers. Preventing Chronic Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025. (CDC)

American Academy of Pediatrics. Screen Time Guidelines. Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. (AAP)

American Academy of Pediatrics. The Family Media Plan. Pediatrics, 2024. (AAP)