Sweden’s public health agency has urged parents to declare parts of the home phone-free and to put their mobile away when they are spending time with their children, after research showed the impact of adult screen use on children.

The agency began recommending two years ago that parents and guardians “reflect” on the amount of time they spent on their smartphones around children, but on Monday it issued new guidelines offering more concrete suggestions.

“Put your phone away when you’re with your child. Use it only if you need to or when you’re using it together,” the health authority said in a statement. Adults who “create good screen habits for themselves” would influence children’s habits, it added.

The agency also recommended that parents declare some parts of the home, such as the bedroom or around the dining table, “screen-free zones”, and urged parents to “protect and respect your child online. Think before posting pictures or videos.”

Sweden’s government commissioned the public health agency last autumn to investigate any connection between children’s health and the amount of time their parents or guardians spend on screens.

The research showed that parents’ screen use could negatively affect their interactions with their children, and also established a connection between parents’ and children’s screen habits, with the children of heavy users developing similar habits themselves.

“I don’t think people realise that [their screen use] affects children to the extent that we now know that it does,” the minister of social affairs, Jakob Forssmed, told the Swedish public broadcaster, SVT.

Helena Frielingsdorf, a psychiatrist and researcher at the agency, said children were affected “not only by what adults say, but also by what adults do. That’s why small changes in everyday life can make a difference, both for interactions in the present and for the child’s own habits over time.”

Sweden had previously published guidelines for children that advised limits on non-school-related screen time ranging from none at all for those under two to one hour a day for two- to five-year-olds, two for children between six and 12, and three hours a day for 13- to 18-year-olds.

The guidelines also specify that children should avoid digital devices completely in the hours leading up to bedtime, and that mobile phones, tablets, and computers should be left outside the bedroom at night.

The Scandinavian country is also implementing a national school smartphone ban written into its Education Act, with mobile phones banned in schools for children up to grade nine – up to the age of 15-16 – from the start of the 2026-27 autumn term.