TVs in your kids’ bedrooms are not a good idea, declared scientists based on results of a recent research.

Preschoolers who like to watch TV sleep considerably less than those who don’t

As declared in the new investigation by Amherst’s scientist Rebecca Spencer and a young researcher Abigail Helm, University of Massachusetts, kids who spend time in front of screens sleep less compared to their peers who do not.

Spencer said that among 3 to 5-year-old boys and girls 36% had TVs in their rooms. One third of these kids had a habit of dropping asleep with the television working. The programs kids watched in the privacy of their bedrooms were often aggressive and made for grownups.

Kids sleeps better without TVs before bedtime

The research results demonstrate that spending time in front of screens affects preschoolers’ length and quality of sleep.

The experiment was carried out by measuring time by an actigraphic apparatus that kids wore on their wrist like a watch.

Though it was typical for young children to have daytime napping, it did not totally repay for the loss of night sleep.

The conclusion that watching TV does not assist children in sleeping better refutes the common belief by providing myth-shattering data: Parents’ assumption about TV’s power to calm kids down was apparently wrong.

Obviously, those children weren’t getting sufficient sleep, and television screens didn’t help them to drop asleep faster. Researchers provided the statistics to educate mothers about the fact that the box does not assist their sons and daughters in falling asleep.

Watching TV does not help children sleep better.

The inconvenient truth

The investigation results of Spencer and Helm follow principles of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The association states kids aged 2 to 4 should spend no more than an hour in front of screens.

Thus, little or no TV time is even better. Likewise, the Academy of Pediatrics advises reducing the screen time per day for 2 to 5-year-old participants to one hour.

Mothers are advised to watch shows and programs with their children. Moreover, the organization stressed the significance of getting quality sleep for kids’ health.

According to statistics in the UMass Amherst study, 54% of young participants are not using the WHO’s guidelines on TV time during the week, and the quantity rises to 87% at weekends when preschoolers spend even more time in front of interactive screens.

Parents don’t really know about their kids’ sleeping habits

The study also discovered that mothers and fathers are inclined to misjudge how long their kids sleep and how well.

Spencer comes out with an undeniable proof: The actigraphs gave scientists a reliable indicator of sleep.

The researchers concluded that parents do not know how long children sleep.

Survey: TVs keep kids awake

The survey was conducted in Western Massachusetts. A varied group of 470 children took part in the investigation by wearing actigraphs for approximately 16 days.

The questionnaires about demographics and the kids’ health and performance, as well as detailed interviews on screen time were completed by their close relatives.

The results include the following statistics:

• Preschoolers who get an hour of TV time a day get 22 extra minutes of the night sleep, as compared to children who use TVs for an additional one hour a day. In a week, kids who watch less TV collect almost two and a half hours of extra sleep.
• Children with no TVs in their rooms slept on average around 30 additional minutes at nighttime as compared to the ones who has a TV unit in the bedroom.
• While kids with screens slept 12 minutes more during naps on average, they still slept roughly 17 minutes less throughout a 24-hour phase than the participants without screens in their rooms.

Now the team intends to look into the use of smart phones and how they influence the quality and duration of sleep. Spencer also notes that the use of television by preschoolers as stated by their close relatives is prone to be underrated. Parents believe kids don’t watch as much TV as they actually do.

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