Screen time impacts infants’ sleep

CHILDREN as young as one who want ‘five more minutes’ of screen time are suffering from a lack of sleep.

A study into how very young children are affected by looking at screens found that even infants are being impacted.

Researcher and paediatric consultant Dr Catherine Hill said the results reveal that screen time is directly linked to poor sleep in under-twos, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

The study, by the universities of Strathclyde and Southampton, looked at more than 60,000 children under five years old.

Dr Hill urged parents to encourage outdoor play and to let their children enjoy screen-free bedtimes. The consultant in paediatric sleep medicine at Southampton Children’s Hospital said: ‘Adequate sleep plays a critical role in children’s health and development, with short sleep duration in the early years linked to obesity in later life and an effect on early brain development.

‘While it is now well established that reduced physical activity and increased screen time adversely impacts older children’s sleep, little was known about these associations in children under five.’

The NHS advises that children aged three to four years should be physically active for at least 180 minutes per day, and should not have more than one hour’s screen time per day, preferably less.

A study released last month found that the sleep and mental health of ten to 19year-olds are being damaged by using mobile phones at night.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The rollout of our £250million package of measures to support positive mental health for children and young people is under way. This includes a review of evidence on the effects of screen use on adolescents’ sleep, which we expect to be published in the spring.’