Pixabay Images

Pixabay Images

Reports show that kids’ burgeoning screen use is hurting their imaginations, their ability to interact with each other and their attention spans.

It is also keeping them up at night.

According to a new meta-analysis from King’s College, London, the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets is reducing the amount of sleep kids get, the quality of that sleep and increasing daytime sleepiness. Even when devices are in kids’ room, but not in use, they hurt kids’ ability to get the sleep they need. The analysis looked at screen use among more than 125,000 kids.

Kids who use devices within 90 minutes of going to bed are twice as likely to have problems getting enough sleep, and face an estimated 40% increase in poorer sleep quality. Those who have devices, but do not use them within that 90-minute time period, are about 40% more likely to not get enough sleep (quantity) and 50% more likely not to sleep well (quality).

– Jenny Anderson

Read more: Researchers confirm that screens are seriously messing with your kids’ sleep