Screen time, that's the time you or you children spend every day looking at a screen of some kind. Whether that's a television's screen, a computer monitor, a smartphone or tablet screen, too much is not good.

Ochsner Health Center Zachary Pediatrician Dr. Myriam Ortiz told the Louisiana Radio Network that parents should consider limiting the amount of time their kids spend in front of a screen. She suggests that children up to 18 months old don't need any screen time. From that age to 24 months she suggests that screen time is used in very small doses.

We recommend parents to watch whatever they are deciding to expose them to with them so they can explain to the child what they’re seeing.

The obvious reason for limiting time in front of a screen is to increase a child's physical activity. Children do need to move around and have a healthy and active play time every day. It's not surprising that we have seen our incidents of childhood obesity skyrocket when you consider that most eight-year-olds spend on average over two hours watching TV, playing video games or using a computer.

That's why Ortiz urges parents to set screen time limits and to be consistent in monitoring those limits.

If you decide this is going to be the amount of time you are allowed to be doing this activity, then we have to be consistent, and also you have to be consistent regarding the type of media.

Dr. Ortiz also suggested that you implement "media-free-times". These are designated times such as meal time or bed time when electronic devices are not allowed to be on or in the same room with the child.

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