Screen time, phone use
linked to less sleep for teens
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[October 28, 2016]
By Madeline Kennedy
(Reuters Health) - Digital distractions,
and a more classical one, talking on the phone, are linked to shorter
sleeping time and greater daytime sleepiness for teens, Canadian
researchers say.
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“Today’s adolescents sleep much less than previous generations,
their sleep quality is poorer, and they report more daytime
sleepiness, all of which have health and social consequences,” said
Jennifer O’Loughlin, an author of the paper in the journal Sleep
Health and researcher at the University of Montreal.
At the same time, electronic media are becoming a larger part of
teen’s lives and are often used before bed, O’Loughlin told Reuters
Health by email.
To explore the link between time spent using electronics like video
games, TVs and phones and the amount of sleep teens are getting, the
study team analyzed data from a Montreal-based study of high school
students.
More than 1,200 students 14 to 16 years old completed questionnaires
between 2008 and 2009 reporting on how often they used electronics,
including watching television, as well as how often they did other
sedentary activities like reading, doing homework or talking on the
phone.
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Teens also answered questions about what time they usually went to
sleep and woke up on weekdays and weekends.
Researchers found that kids who used computers and videogames for
more than two hours per day slept 17 and 11 minutes less,
respectively, than youth who used screens for less time.
One in three teens used computers for more than two hours per day
and they were more than twice as likely as the others to sleep less
than eight hours per night.
Teens who talked on the phone for at least two hours daily were also
three times more likely than those who didn’t to fall short of eight
hours of sleep.
Watching TV had the opposite effect on sleep, and teens who watched
two hours or more per day were half as likely to sleep less than
eight hours compared to others.
Youth who used the computer or talked on the phone for more than two
hours per day also reported more sleepiness during the day than
those who spent less time using devices.
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Teens who engaged in other sedentary activities that did not involve
screens such as reading did not report getting less sleep than their
peers.
“Kids need sleep to grow, period,” said Christina Calamaro, a
research director who studies teens and sleep loss at Nemours Alfred
I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.
Calamaro added that missing out on sleep increases young people’s
risk for depression, problems with thinking and attention, and
weight gain.
Calamaro advised that parents should model healthy sleep behavior
and not use electronics in the bedroom. “It is important that they
set the standard for healthy sleep routines!” she said in an email.
O’Loughlin recommended that parents keep an eye on their children’s
screen time throughout the day, adding, “Talking to your child about
why it is important to limit screen time if they are experiencing
sleep problems may also be important.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/2fjXTXY
Sleep Health 2016.
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