It a report which run counter to previous research that suggested excessive screen time was linked to children failing to get sufficient rest.
The survey concluded that the relationship between sleep and screen use in children was “extremely modest“.
The study, conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute, used data from a 2016 US study into children’s health, in which parents from across the US completed surveys about their households.
The children’s “digital screen time” was based on answers to two questions about the weekday habits of children aged between six months and 17 years:
- How much time they spent on computers, mobile phones, handheld video games and other electronic devices
- How much time they spent in front of a TV watching shows, as well as playing video games
The findings indicate that the tech-abstaining teenagers slept only slightly longer than their counterparts who had spent much of their day in front of a screen.
