More Screen Time Worsens Sleep in Young Kids

Higher use of electronic media is tied to poorer sleep quality in children as young as three, a new study from Germany suggests.

The study investigated the association between media consumption - including electronic media such as television, DVDs and computer gaming as well as books - with overall sleep quality in 530 three-year-olds born in southern Germany in 2012 and 2013.

Based on parent responses to a questionnaire, higher electronic media consumption was strongly linked to poor overall sleep quality, including worsening bedtime resistance, sleep anxiety, and daytime sleepiness.

“Previous studies have shown that media use, particularly electronic media use in the evening, is associated with poor sleep in adolescents and adults. This study shows that such relationships can be observed much earlier in life - even in the first 3-4 years,” said Dr. Daniel Buysse, a sleep medicine researcher at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study.

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