It doesn’t take a genius to know that too much TV can affect kids’ sleeping habits. However, a new study has found that school-aged children experience shorter sleep duration after watching just 1.5 hours of television per day. In other words, all it takes is three episodes of a typical kids’ TV show for sleep deprivation to kick in.
[credit provider=”Cartoon Network” url=”http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/adventuretime/”]
Researchers at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona measured sleep duration in 1713 children aged between two and nine. Parents reported the number of hours their child watched television per day. The study found that children who watched 1.5 hours of television or more per day had shorter sleep duration:
Longitudinally, children with reported increases in television viewing duration over time (from
The sleep disparity remained significant even after adjusting for possible contributing factors such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders and child physical activity levels.
“Parents should consider avoiding long periods of daily television exposure among preschool and school-aged children,” the paper concludes. Does this mean we actually have to pay for a babysitter? Like that’s going to happen.
How much TV do you allow your kids to watch per day (including games and DVDs)? How much is too much? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
Hours of Television Viewing and Sleep Duration in Children [JAMA Pediatrics]
Comments
3 responses to “Just Three Episodes Of Adventure Time Could Affect Your Kids’ Sleep”
But Adventure Time is only 10-11 mins per episode. That’s 35 mins tops.
I think 1.5 hours of television on a weekday for a child is fair though. You could stretch that from 3 normal half hour shows to 4 if they watch them without ads too, still under 1.5hrs.
On TV, each “episode” is a double-feature that goes for 25 minutes or so. So my example stands. 😛
Ooh, I did not know that. I’ve never actually watched Adventure Time “on TV” 🙂
I know I’m a lot older, but I use TV to help me sleep at night. Watch a few episodes before bed and BAM! Sleep like the dead.
“Adventure Time” is like a damn LSD trip, anyway. That’d keep anyone awake.