Introduction: Children are often exposed to screen media from birth, and screen media has become an integral part of everyday life. Despite their positive and beneficial effects, prolonged and unhealthy screen media use among children and adolescents is becoming an increasingly important public health concern, as it poses a significant risk of negative effects on their development and health. Purpose: The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the negative consequences of excessive screen media use on the development and health of preschool children and to identify effective approaches, strategies, and interventions that nurses could implement when working with preschool children and their parents. Methods: A review of scientific literature published in English from January 2015 to May 2025 was conducted. The research was carried out in the bibliographic databases CINAHL Ultimate, MEDLINE, and ERIC. We included 15 articles in the final analysis. Results: Nurses play a key role in preventing the negative consequences of excessive screen media use among preschool children. They can provide education and education for health for parents, as well as training for healthcare professionals and educators. Nurses can begin encouraging the development of healthy behaviors and lifestyles in early childhood and focus on the prevention of excessive screen media use and, consequently, reducing the risk of negative behavioral habits and thus negative consequences for the development and health of preschool children. Discussion and conclusion: Nurses play a central role in promoting healthy screen media use through their preventive activities across various levels of the healthcare system by implementing a range of interventions targeting children, parents, educators, and other healthcare professionals. Education for health for parents, children and adolescents is provided as part of systematic health examinations and in cooperation with educational institutions. In Slovenia, a certain amount of attention is already being paid to this topic, and several non-governmental organizations are active in this area. Further research is needed to obtain data on stakeholders’ awareness, knowledge and the effectiveness of education on this topic, which could contribute to the development and improvement of effective preventive programs, especially given the expected increase in the prevalence of this problem. Additionally, it would be reasonable to incorporate this content into nursing education curricula.
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