Physical Wellness

Touchscreen Exposure Can Affect Toddler's Sleep, Study Says [VIDEO]

By Carrie Ball | Update Date: Apr 18, 2017 11:23 AM EDT

The researchers at the University of London did a first study on how touchscreens can affect toddler's sleep. There is a certain effect that is not good when toddlers are exposed to touchscreens.

Parents and their toddler ages six months to three years old were being surveyed and researchers found that sleep is affected by 15.6 fewer minutes with every hour of touchscreen exposure. The children that are exposed to touchscreens were more likely to sleep more during the day than nighttime according to Romper.

In the research, it is concluded that touchscreen use affects infants. The researchers noted that the study is not definitive. It also does not suggest that toddlers must not be exposed to touchscreens. In fact, a different study previously stated that toddlers that were exposed to gadgets were more likely to develop their motor skills.

This recent study also indicated that families were more likely to own these gadgets of the generation. Having these gadgets in the household would mean exposure to touchscreens. This does not only apply to the adults in the household but to all members of the family.

The exposure of toddlers to touchscreens also varied with age. The younger ones may be exposed to touchscreens at an average of eight minutes per day. There may be varied results on how touchscreen use affects infants.

Meanwhile, this new study that has been published on April 13 in the journal nature also indicates that aside from touchscreen use affecting toddler's sleep, it may also affect the development of children as reported by CNet.

Lack of sleep has been affecting most of the children nowadays and one of the reasons is the exposure to touchscreens especially from different devices. There are more that do not get enough sleep lately and this may seem alarming since a consistent lack of sleep may affect the health in a negative way.

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