Nowadays, it's not unusual to see toddlers and children tapping away on touch-screen phones and tablets for hours on end.
Kids are such quick learners that it's a thousand times easier for them to pick up on new technology, which makes touch-screen phones and tablets seemingly perfect toys for them.
Many parents know just how useful tablets and smartphones can be when it comes to toddlers and young kids: they keep them distracted, can teach them educational games, and they help them work on fine motor skills.
Plus, like adults, many kids just love playing the fun games that smartphones and tablets have to offer.
With educational apps and fun child-centered games, parents can feel confident that their children are occupied and entertained, while still learning and doing something productive.
Unfortunately, a new study published in Scientific Reports claims that there's one major drawback to letting young kids use technology with touch screens.
So, should parents and grandparents be worried?
[H/T: RealSimple]
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Lots of toddlers absolutely love playing games and goofing around on their parents' touch-screen devices.
Today, there are even touch-screen products on the market specifically for children.
But according to a new study, there's a very serious reason children shouldn't use touch screens.
Researchers at Birkbeck University of London found that toddlers who use touch-screen devices get less sleep than kids who don't use these devices.
Because researchers knew that traditional screen time, like television and video games, has been linked to childhood sleep problems, they wanted to see if touch-screen devices created the same issues.
And what they found was significant: touch-screen time can cause disrupted sleep in young children and toddlers.
For every extra hour of touch-screen-tablet use, children slept an average of 15.6 minutes less.
Although there was an effect of touch-screen use on amount of overall sleep, researchers didn't find any association between touch-screen use and nighttime awakenings.
Researchers think there are various reasons why touch screens cause kids to get less sleep.
One reason is that they might stay up later at night playing on touch screens.
Another possibility is that the content might make them too excited to fall asleep.
The third possibility is that, like adults, kids are affected by the bright light from touch-screen devices, which can affect circadian rhythms and suppress melatonin.
So, should parents stop letting their children use touch-screen devices alogether?
Research says probably not, mostly because of positives such as increased fine motor skills. In the end, it's all about a balance.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids get no more than an hour a day of screen time, whether traditional or touch screen).
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