Not screentime but on a similar thread. My daughter was born in '96 so screentime wasn't an issue when she was young. My story is about alcohol. When my daughter was about 12, I decided to stop drinking. Not that I was a big drinker or anything - I probably had one or two beers a week. But I decided to demonstrate that social drinking - or any drinking - was something that people can choose to abstain from without any downsides. I started to drink beer again some time when she was in high school.
My daughter did get a feature-phone in middle school and then a smartphone in high school. I never set any limits - but I was fortunate to have a child who managed her time exceptionally well. I wonder how much of that came from her not having smartphone exposure when young.
As someone born in '87, I have no idea what you mean by "screentime wasn't an issue". I think it's more the case that it wasn't an issue for your daughter. I had plenty of fights with my parents about the amount of time I wanted to spend on my computer.
I was born a few years earlier. My mom limited my internet time to 1 hour per day -- which had more to do with keeping us under our allotted ISP hours without getting overages than it did modifying my behavior.
But in hindsight I'm extremely thankful for the limitation. A computer stops being a social channel when it's offline so the hours I spent offline were pretty crucial for me to learn a variety of things - from learning how to code to creating art.
It also really did force me to go outside and learn about the world that way.
I had really meant preteen smartphone screentime. Smartphones didn't exist when she was a preteen so it wasn't an issue. Also, smartphone screentime is in general much higher thank computer screentime.
Even though you may not have had that much, health benefits are definitely there.
Especially for any older parent to young kids, taking steps to optimise your own longevity is pretty much acting responsibly the way I see it.
I did it nearly three years ago primarily for longevity reasons, but the role modelling aspect is starting to dawn on me. My 13 year old son has at least one parent (I'm divorced) who doesn't need alcohol to survive various settings - I think he'll have a much more conscious approach to it.
One of my biggest fears is him getting into a car with a drunk kid driving. Have already started to talk to him about it, even though he's likely years away from it being a possible thing.
My daughter did get a feature-phone in middle school and then a smartphone in high school. I never set any limits - but I was fortunate to have a child who managed her time exceptionally well. I wonder how much of that came from her not having smartphone exposure when young.
I do feel for parents today.