Studies have consistently shown an association
between media use and children’s sleep problems. A new study, “The Impact of a
Healthy Media Use Intervention on Sleep in Preschool Children,” in the September
2012 Pediatrics (published online Aug. 6), tested whether changing the type of
videos and television shows watched by 3- to 5-year-old children improved their
sleep. In the randomized controlled trial involving 565 families in the Seattle
area, half of the families received a home visit and several follow-up phone
calls and mailings from a case manager, who tried to help the family find ways
to replace violent and age-inappropriate media content with educational and
pro-social media content. Parents were also encouraged to watch TV and videos
alongside their children. The control group of families received
nutrition-related mailings instead. Researchers then assessed children’s sleep,
including how long it took for them to fall asleep, night wakings, nightmares,
difficulty waking and daytime tiredness. Study authors found children who
received the healthy media use intervention had significantly lower odds of
sleep problems, and that this effect persisted across the intervention year, but
faded six months after the program ended. According to the study authors, the
results of the trial suggest the relationship between media use and child sleep
problems is indeed causal in nature, and that health care clinicians and parents
should consider healthy media choices in the prevention or treatment of child
sleep
problems.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is
an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical
subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the
health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and
young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.
