Screen time wrecking children’s sleep, risking mental health

Experts are warning that at least a quarter of teenagers are suffering sleep problems as a result of use of digital devices.

Itai, 7, Yonatan, 11, and Noa Heitner, 13, get some outdoor exercise away from their screens at Matraville in Sydney's inner south. Picture: John Feder

Experts are warning that at least a quarter of teenagers are suffering sleep problems as a result of compulsive use of digital devices at night, posing significant and long-term health risks.

Sleep deprivation in childhood and adolescence hinders growth and development and can cause mental health issues, behavioural problems and detract from performance at school, a federal inquiry has been told.

Instigated by Health Minister Greg Hunt in September, the inquiry into sleep health awareness has since been inundated with submissions from sleep experts, child psychologists and educators demanding government intervention on the issue of children’s sleep.

Many have called for a federally funded campaign to educate young people on the importance of healthy sleep and the detrimental impacts of excessive screen use, particularly at bedtime.

According to the submission of the Australian Council of Children and the Media, parental awareness of the need to manage children’s screen use from an early age was lacking, pointing to a 2017 poll that revealed 38 per cent of primary school children and 69 per cent of teenagers were using a screen-based device at bedtime, with a quarter reporting sleep problems as a result.

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“The early establishment of healthy sleep patterns has great benefits for children’s physical and cognitive development,” the ACCM submission said. “High levels of screen use in early childhood have been shown to impact negatively on such development.”

Canberra speech pathologist Sharon Moore, who has written extensively about sleep issues, said 30 per cent of the children she saw as patients were suffering the ­consequences of poor sleep.

Dr Moore said many of the side effects of poor sleep resembled those associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including difficulty concentrating, aggression, hyperactivity, anxiety and troubles with literacy.

She said children who were not sleeping properly often did not grow well, had poor appetites and were frequently sick. Sleep problems had also been linked to obesity, impaired memory, increased anxiety, mood disorders and lack of emotional self-regulation.

“Simply, children who sleep poorly have lower quality of life, and lower developmental potential than those who sleep well,” Dr Moore said.

Wellbeing in Schools Australia chief executive Jacqueline Van Velsen said teachers frequently reported that students struggled to stay awake in class, were functioning below their capacity and, in some instances, were too tired to come to school. “The students are quite honest about it, that they’ve been up until two or three in the morning texting each other,” Ms Van Velsen said.

For Sydney paediatrician Samuel Heitner and his wife, Miri, the idea that digital technology could play havoc with their children’s sleep and academic performance is no surprise. “You can see it in their energy levels,” Dr Heitner said. “If they play too much on their phones before bedtime, they’re all stirred up and don’t actually get to sleep. And then they’ll wake up early, sometimes 5.30am, to play games before school, too.”

The couple has set a limit of one hour of screen time a day — within nationally recommended guidelines — to encourage their chil­dren to entertain themselves outdoors.

Yonatan, 11, and Itai, 7, play cricket, touch football and tennis. Enforcing the limit on Noa, 13, who is often invited to friends’ houses solely to play games on phones, is proving more challenging.