Children Who Sleep with Electronic Devices Lose 21 Minutes of Sleep a Night

A new study reveals that children who sleep in the same room as a portable electronic device get around a half hour less of sleep per night than children without such devices.

Bloomberg reports that children who sleep in the same room as devices such as tablets or smart phones get an average of 21 minutes less sleep per night. Children who slept in the same room as such devices also experienced less deep and restful sleep than children who did not sleep with such distractions. The study was published in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The study was conducted on two age groups. One group was made up of nine year olds, while the other had 12-year-olds.

Bloomberg notes this is the latest piece of research that shows that screens found on computers or smart phones cause the quality of peoples' sleep to deteriorate. For example, a recent study showed that people who read books on electronic readers rather than traditional paper before sleep are more tired when they wake up.

In children, some of the possible problems associated with a lack of sleep are behavioral issues, and lower academic performance, according to Bloomberg.  

Like the children in the Pediatrics study, adults who used electronic readers before bed also had a lower quality of sleep. Both children and adults also seem to increase their risk of gaining weight when using electronic devices before bed.

The researches also discovered that the amount of time spent in front of computer or television screens corresponds to the amount of sleep lost. For each hour of screen time, children lose around 4 minutes of sleep.

Although it has not been confirmed, scientists suspect that the presence of such bright light makes it harder for the body to keep its natural rhythms in order and release the chemicals needed to fall asleep.