You might be surprised to learn what kinds of TV shows
are too scary for kids
If your kid is having trouble sleeping, take a closer look at what he’s
been watching on TV. A new study published in the journal Pediatrics
finds that violent or age-inappropriate programming could increase the odds
that children have problems falling asleep and staying asleep or have
nightmares.
Previous studies have consistently linked media use to disrupted sleep
and behavioral problems in kids, but it’s never been clear whether the
association was causal — that is, whether TV viewing led to kids’ problems, or
vice versa — or whether changing what kids watched would have any impact on
improving their sleep habits. The new study by researchers at the Seattle
Children’s Research Institute sought to answer that question.
Lead study author Michelle Garrison and her colleagues looked at
the sleeping and TV-watching habits of 565 kids aged 3 to 5 years. The families
were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group was coached in person,
by phone and through mailings on how to make better media choices for their
kids; they were encouraged to replace violent or mature content — which could
include seemingly harmless cartoons like Bugs Bunny that may be funny
for older kids, but inappropriate for younger ones — with
preschool-age-appropriate educational or prosocial shows like Curious
George, Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street. Parents were also encouraged
to watch and discuss TV shows with their kids. The control group received only
mailers about nutrition.
The goal of the study wasn’t to limit overall media exposure, just
exposure to a particular type of content. “Making a relatively simple change in
what kids are watching is a change worth the effort,” Garrison told HealthDay.
“Sometimes parents feel overwhelmed by the idea of getting rid of TV
altogether, but switching shows can make a big difference.”
How big? Researchers assessed children’s sleep quality by using portions
of a standard questionnaire measuring how often kids have trouble falling
asleep, their nightmare frequency, how many times they wake up during the
night, their difficulty waking up in the morning and how tired they are during
the day. The questionnaires were administered at the start of the study and
again at 6, 12 and 18 months. At the start of the study, there weren’t any
significant differences between the two groups in terms of sleep problems or TV
habits. The most common problem kids had was trouble falling asleep, with 38%
of kids taking more than 20 minutes to fall asleep at least a couple of nights
a week.
After the TV-show-swapping intervention, the frequency of sleep problems
dropped, with kids watching age-appropriate shows experiencing 64% lower odds
of any sleep problem compared with kids in the control group. The effect lasted
about a year, but by 18 months many of the youngsters’ sleep problems began to
reappear, which the authors attribute to parents becoming lax again about their
kids’ media choices after the study.
What’s appropriate or inappropriate for a preschooler may not be
immediately obvious to some parents. One thing to remember is that young
children may not understand the concept of pretend. “An 8-year-old can watch
superheroes and understand that it’s not what happens in real life,” Garrison
told HealthDay. “But the same content can be overwhelming and scary for a
3-year-old. The idea that people might just explode is scary for a 3-year-old.”
That’s why watching violent TV can lead to nightmares and fears of
monsters hiding in closest or under the bed — especially if the TV viewing
happens in the hour before bedtime. In a previous study, also published in Pediatrics,
Garrison and colleagues found that kids who used media (any TV or video games)
around bedtime were more likely to have sleep problems than kids who abstained.
Kids should be winding down before bedtime — perhaps by reading or playing with
a toy — Garrison said, but “TV and video games may interfere with that process
by overexciting kids and ‘amping up’ their brains.”
Experts recommend that TV and other media should be avoided during the
hour before bedtime (that goes for adults too), but if your kids are watching
TV before nodding off, make sure they’re tuning into an age-appropriate show.
Checking out media watchdogs like Common Sense Media can help parents figure
out what kinds of programming they should steer clear of.
Health Land
No comments:
Post a Comment