Researchers from Brown University have advice for young teens and tweens: stop taking electronic gadgets to bed.
All kids know that it’s harder to fall asleep at night with the overhead lights on than it is in the dark; what they don’t understand is that the brightness from their smartphones and other mobile devices may have similarly negative effects on their sleeping patterns.
The recent Brown University study—which was published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism—found that the sleep biology of boys and girls aged nine to 15 is especially sensitive to light at night.
In lab experiments, researchers found that the brighter the light, the more melatonin—an essential sleep-timing chemical—was suppressed within the kids. Specifically, among 38 children in early to middle puberty, an hour of 15 lux of light—dim lighting—suppressed melatonin by 9.2 percent, 150 lux—normal lighting—reduced it by 26 percent, and 500 lux—lighting as bright as that of a supermarket—reduced it by 36.9 percent.
“Small amounts of light at night, such as light from screens, can be enough to affect sleep patterns,” says study senior author Mary Carskadon. “Students who have tablets or TVs or computers—or even an ‘old-school’ flashlight under the covers to read—are pushing their circadian clocks to a later timing. This makes it harder to go to sleep and wake up at times early the next morning for school.”
So, in the hour before they go to sleep, have your young teens and tweens turn off their devices to aid the sleep process; otherwise, they’ll spend their school days in a groggy, grumpy and unproductive state.
