According to a study, the duration of the screen for children has little effect on sleep

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A study from Oxford University suggests that the time children spend on devices has little effect on their sleep time.

This goes against earlier research that excessive screen time was linked to a lack of rest for children.

The survey concluded that the relationship between sleep and the use of screening in children was "extremely modest".

But a British GP said the results did not match his clinical experience.

The study, conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute, is based on data from a 2016 US study on child health, in which parents across the country responded. to surveys of their households.

The children's "digital screen time" was based on the answers to two questions about the habits of children six months to 17 years old on weekdays:

• how much time they spent on computers, mobile phones, portable video games and other electronic devices
• how long they spent in front of a television watching programs and other content, as well as playing video games

The results indicate that teens were sleeping only slightly longer than their counterparts who spent most of their day in front of a screen.

For example, teenagers who had not been in front of a screen for part of the day slept in total eight hours and 51 minutes.

Those who spent eight hours of their day glued to a screen slept eight hours and 21 minutes.

& # 39; Mini jet lag case & # 39;

The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that each hour spent in front of a screen was associated with three to eight minutes of sleep less per night.

Screens are now part of modern childhood and both professionals and parents are increasingly concerned about the amount of time children spend on devices that affect their physical and mental health.

With regard to sleep, it is feared that children will take their devices to bed and use them when they should be sleeping.

Others have worried about the role that blue light emitted by such devices plays on sleep patterns and an associated hormone.

The National Sleep Foundation of the United States told parents that it was important to prevent children from using electronic devices before going to bed "because the blue light emitted by these screens can delay release of melatonin inducing sleep ".

"This is a particularly serious problem for adolescents whose circadian rhythms are already changing naturally, making them feel awake later in the night.The end result: children deprived of sleep or poorly rested who have essentially delivered to a mini case of jet lag, "he writes on his website.

& # 39; Data flawed & # 39;

But the author of the study think that other factors should be taken into account.

"Focusing on bedtime routines and regular sleep patterns, such as regular waking hours, are far more effective strategies for helping youth sleep than thinking that screens themselves play an important role," he said. said Professor Andrew Przbylski, author of the study.

Prof. Przbylski told the BBC that many studies suggesting links between screen time and lack of sleep had very small samples and required "much larger studies" to find conclusive evidence of a lack of sleep. a problem.

"Because the effects of screens are so modest, it is possible that many studies with smaller samples are false positives – results that corroborate an effect that does not actually exist," he said.

He acknowledged that the data used in the study were "flawed" because they relied on parent reports. Another study on the time at which children turn off their devices before going to bed will be published shortly.

Many leading technology companies, including Apple, Google, and Facebook, have introduced dashboards that allow users to control the amount of time they spend on screens.

Some senior technology officials have banned their own children from using devices.

The young children of the late Apple chief Steve Jobs were not allowed to use an iPad.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates banned the phones until his children were teenagers.

And Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple, said that he would not let his nephew join social networks.

Rangan Chatterjee, one of the British doctors, said that Oxford University's study was "welcome", but that he was not planning to change the minds of those at the University of Oxford. parents, who were to turn off the appliances an hour before bedtime.

"The more research is done in this area, the better because the screens are here to stay," he told the BBC.

"But the results do not replicate what I see in clinical practice, namely that using scouts just before bedtime has a significant impact on the quality of sleep."