Pre-school children who watch television shows – even those with low levels of violence – during the day and especially before bedtime experience disrupted sleep, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed the sleep diaries of 612 children aged 3, 4 and 5 years. On average, the children watched TV or used a computer about 73 minutes a day, and only one in ten had a television in their bedroom.
Parents kept a weekly sleep diary, with 18 percent noting at least one problem every five to seven nights. Since children that age are unable to distinguish fantasy from reality, even mild cartoon violence, kids’ movies, and clowns can be scary to them.
"When we stopped and looked at types of violence – slapstick funny violence in Bugs Bunny or superhero violence in Batman or more realistic violence – we didn’t see a difference in terms of the impact on sleep," said researcher Michelle Garrison, PhD.
Experts recommend that parents ‘go dark’ to help their kids sleep – “remove TVs from children’s bedrooms, limit or eliminate media use before bedtime, and create a bedtime routine that is free of electronic stimulation to gently transition the child into sleep,” said Dr Nusheen Ameenudin at the Mayo Clinic.