Impact of television on the quality of sleep in preschool children

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the impact of different habits concerning television (TV) use and the time of day in which TV is watched on the sleep quality of young children. Methods: Parents of 100 healthy children (58% boys, mean age of 2.7 ± 1.5 years) attending a routine health check completed the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and a questionnaire concerning TV and electronic media use. Children were divided into those with a normal (SDSC−) or abnormal (SDSC+) questionnaire score. TV viewing habits were compared between groups. Results: The total sleep time and total TV viewing time were not different between groups. A TV set was inside each child’s bedroom in 51% of participants. Children with a TV in their bedroom showed significantly higher scores in the “sleep terrors,” “nightmares,” “sleep talking,” and “tired when waking up” responses of the SDSC (P = 0.02, 0.01, 0.01, and 0.01, respectively). Children with a TV in their room had an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 3.29 (1.08–9.99) for having an abnormal SDSC. Evening TV viewers had significantly higher SDSC scores compared with those who watched TV earlier during the day (P = 0.04). Conclusions: The presence of a TV set in the child’s bedroom was associated with significant reductions in the quality of young children’s sleep. Evening exposure to TV was associated with significantly worse sleep quality.