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  Children under two years old should not be exposed to screens, according to new regulations in Sweden.
  

Research now indicates that permitting children to utilize smartphones, tablets, or watch TV close to bedtime has minimal effect on their sleep patterns.

specialists have frequently sounded the warning about how screen time impacts children’s growth.

But scientists in
New Zealand
, who monitored the screen time of numerous children between ages 11 and 14, discovered that their sleep quality remained unchanged.

Only when they started using their gadgets in bed did it become more difficult for them to drift off to sleep.

Swedish health authorities decided yesterday that toddlers shouldn’t be permitted to watch TV or use screens at all, while older children’s screen time ought to be restricted.

Experts have cautioned earlier that kids who frequently use smartphones, tablets, and computers may become more irritable, struggle with focus, and retain information for only about half the time compared to those who do not use these devices as much.

Research suggests that kids spending extended periods in front of screens may be at higher risk for developing behavioral issues or experiencing challenges during their childhood.
depression
.

However, the lead researcher and an authority on electronic media and sleep from the University of Otago stated: ‘

The most intriguing discovery we made was that screen time just before bedtime seemed to have minimal effect on their sleep quality that same night.

Nevertheless, using screens at bedtime negatively affected their sleep — it delayed their ability to fall asleep by roughly 30 minutes and decreased the total hours of sleep they obtained that night.

We should reassess our sleep recommendations to better align with modern life, making them more realistic and suitable—current guidelines are neither attainable nor fitting for today’s lifestyle.

In this research, the scientists requested 79 participants aged between 11 and 14 years old to wear a body camera attached to their chests starting three hours prior to bedtime until they climbed into bed.

In addition to the body-worn camera recording when, what, and how they were using their devices, an additional infrared camera was installed in their bedroom to monitor their screen usage during bedtime hours.

They additionally wore an actigraph, a wrist-worn gadget designed to measure sleep patterns.

During a one-week follow-up period, they discovered that 99 percent of participants engaged with screens within the two-hour timeframe preceding bedtime.

In the meantime, over half of the participants used screens at least once before bedtime, and about a third continued using them even after initially attempting to fall asleep.

They found out that once people were in bed, more engaging screen-related activities such as gaming and juggling multiple devices—like simultaneously streaming Netflix on a laptop while playing Xbox—had an even greater negative impact on their sleep quality.

Dr. Brosnan stated, “For every extra 10 minutes of screen time of this kind, the children’s sleep duration decreased nearly proportionally.”

Our research indicates that the effect of screen time on sleep mainly stems from displacing time, which postpones when you start sleeping, rather than due to any direct influence of blue light or engaging interactions.

‘No associations were found between sleep latency and wakefulness during the sleeping phase.’

It comes as
Yesterday, Sweden’s Public Health Authority recommended
Parents should avoid letting children under the age of two use smartphones, tablets, or watches on television screens.

The new guidelines stated that children aged two to five years old should have their daily screen time capped at one hour.

Children between the ages of six and twelve should limit their screen time to one or two hours per day.

This mirrors a step taken by Danish authorities who introduced age-specific guidelines in September, permitting children under two years old to use these devices solely in exceptional circumstances like those experiencing learning challenges.

In 2019, the World Health Organization recommended that children younger than three years old should avoid watching television or engaging with tablets for gaming activities.

The organization stated that children between the ages of three and four should not spend more than one hour per day on screens.

At the time, British specialists argued that these guidelines relied on insufficient evidence and did not acknowledge that not all forms of screen time had negative effects on children.

A 2019 report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health also stated: “We feel that the dangers associated with screen time should not be exaggerated.”

They included: “The literature gives scant consideration to the growing requirement for students to do their homework assignments on digital devices.”

We observe that there is no proof indicating whether homework done on screens has different effects, positive or negative, on health compared to traditional methods.

Children’s screen time rocketed during the Covid pandemic, when lockdowns and school closures forced them to stay indoors.

In the United Kingdom, both the NHS and NICE lack specific guidelines concerning screen time for infants and young children.

However, they suggest a maximum limit of two hours daily for all children.

The UK’s top medical officer advocates for adopting a ‘cautious stance’ regarding the use of screen devices.

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