Study: The More Kids Watch TV, the Less They Sleep
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Image Source White/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Previous studies have shown that when children get less sleep, it has negative effects on both their mental and physical health. Now, a study specifically links TV watching with lack of proper sleep.
Researchers at Mass General Hospital for Children and the Harvard School of Public Health studied more than 1,800 kids over several years and found that the more time children ages 6 months to 8 years watch TV, the less sleep they get.
More specifically, the researchers discovered that each additional hour of television viewing was associated with seven fewer minutes of sleep daily. The effects were more pronounced in boys than in girls.
Furthermore, if the children slept in the presence of a bedroom TV, they slept about a half an hour less per day.
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