Children not sleeping enough because of TV and computer in their bedroom

Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 27 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A UK study found that kids are not getting enough sleep because two-thirds of them have a TV, computer or video game machine in their bedroom.

20% of kids, apparently, sleep 2-5 hours less than their parents did when they were children.

The researchers from Oxford University, UK, polled 1,000 parents. They said that the long-term effects remain to be seen (it is an unknown).

Dr Luci Wiggs, Oxford Child and Adolescent Psychiatry unit, said "This is the first generation of children to face such a plethora of alternatives to going to sleep and the long-term consequences in terms of physical and mental health for both the child and their family can only be guessed at. What we do know is that impaired sleep quality or quantity may compromise children's physical health, academic achievements and mental health."

Dr. Luci said that using TVs and video games at bedtime gives the child an unstructured activity (routine). She and her team looked at kids aged 4-10. She found that children do not have the same structured bedtime routine their parents did when they were children.

She said "Today's diversions are more easily achieved and stimulating to children, leaving parents with a problem. These days it appears that children do not go to bed to read, or be read, a bedtime story in a relaxed, calming environment."

She said that it is important for the child to go to bed at the same time every night. Having a routine, with calming activities such as a bedtime story is also important.

Many experts say that bedrooms have become places of excitement. They used to be places for quiet activities such as quiet reading and settling down.

Many children, the researchers found, spend time texting friends on their mobiles under the bed covers when really, they should be fast asleep.

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