Impact of Devices on Children's Sleep a Major Concern for Researchers

Increased access to and use of mobile digital devices at bedtime among children and teens is a “major public health concern,” according to a recently published meta-analysis by British researchers.

In a roundup of 20 recent studies examining 125,198 children, the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics found “a strong and consistent association between bedtime media device use and inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness.”

The researchers found that children experienced similar deleterious effects on their sleep when they had access to mobile digital devices, even if they did not use them before bedtime.

The researchers warned that schools’ shift to digital technology over textbooks can have an impact on children’s sleep as well:

“Given the evolving technological landscape and the replacement of textbooks with media devices in schools, screen-based media device access and use are likely to rise. It is imperative that teachers, health care professionals, parents and children are educated about the damaging influence of device use on sleep.”

Sleep disturbance in childhood is known to lead to adverse physical and mental health consequences, the researchers said. These can include poor diet, sedentary behavior, obesity, reduced immunity, stunted growth, depression and substance abuse.

Previous studies have linked television, gaming consoles and desktop computers to negative sleep outcomes. A major focus has been the impact of blue light emissions, which can negatively affect humans’ sleep patterns.

The new meta-analysis focused on studies of “portable mobile and media devices,” such as tablets and smartphones. The researchers said they’ve found evidence that such devices present a new challenge to healthy sleep because of the way they facilitate real-time continuous psychological and physiological arousal and stimulation.

Nearly three-fourths of children and 89 percent of adolescents have at least one device in their sleep environment, with most of them used near bedtime, according to the investigation, titled “Association Between Portable Screen-Based Media Device Access or Use and Sleep Outcomes.” It was published online Oct. 31 through the JAMA Network.

The study defined inadequate sleep as less than 10 hours nightly for children and less than nine hours nightly for adolescents. Sleep quality, the researchers said, is based on difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, as well as not being refreshed by sleep. “Excessive daytime sleepiness” was defined as “poor daytime functioning as a result of both sleep quantity and quality.”

To read the full report, visit the JAMA Network site.

About the Author

Richard Chang is associate editor of THE Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • TEACH project path

    PBLWorks Launches Web-based App to Help Scale Project-Based Learning

    PBLWorks, the provider of professional development for project-based learning (PBL), has introduced PBLWorks TEACH, a web-based application that provides ready-to-use, standards-aligned PBL projects for middle school math, science, English language arts, and social studies.

  • Stylized illustration of an AI microchip connected to a laptop, server rack, and monitor with a chart

    HPE and Nvidia Expand AI Infrastructure Partnership

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Nvidia have announced an expanded partnership to accelerate enterprise artificial intelligence adoption through new modular infrastructure and turnkey AI platform offerings.

  • silhouetted student stands before the White House, surrounded by abstract digital graphics of brains, circuits, and AI elements

    White House Sets Sights on AI Education

    A new executive order from President Donald Trump aims to advance America's position in artificial intelligence technology by incorporating AI into education and providing AI training for educators.