Every day the same fight with our teenage children: they are not in a hurry to go to bed and then there is no way for them to wake up in the morning. Researchers at the University of Munich showed that it has a biological reason: the 24-hour cycle that determines when we wake up and when we go to bed is delayed during adolescence, until the age of 20.
Now, a new study presented at the annual meeting of the European Endocrinology Society (ECE), give us a new resource to help our children improve their sleep: limit for one week the adolescent's night exposure to screens that emit blue light, improve their rest, concentration and wake up in a better mood.
The blue light is to blame
It is not the first time that experts advise us to avoid the blue light emitted by devices such as smartphone or tablet, before going to sleep. Exposure to too much nightlight can affect the brain's clock and the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, causing nighttime awakenings and insomnia.
And that lack of sleep not only causes immediate symptoms, such as fatigue and lack of concentration, but also increases the risk of long-term health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
In Babies and more Hooked on mobile: how to know if my teenage son is addicted to new technologiesWe also know that lack of sleep can affect children and adolescents more than adults, but no research had so far analyzed how real exposure affects nighttime rest in adolescents and if it can be reversed.
Now, a collaborative study between the Neuroscience Institute of the Netherlands (UMC in Amsterdam) and the National Institute of Public Health of the Netherlands and the Environment, has analyzed the effects of blue light exposure on adolescents at home.
They discovered that those who spent more than four hours a day of time in front of a screen took about 30 more minutes to fall asleep at night than those who recorded less than one hour of daily exposure time to the screens. In addition, the other symptoms of sleep loss suffered more intensely.
In addition, the team conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of blocking blue light with glasses and zero exposure to the screen at night in 25 adolescents. Both one possibility and the other, resulted in the onset of sleep and the arrival of waking time 20 minutes before, as well as a reduction in symptoms of sleep loss (fatigue, lack of concentration and bad mood), after of only one week.
Dr. Dirk Jan Stenvers, from the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the University of Amsterdam UMC, notes:
"Teenagers spend more and more time in front of the screens and they often complain of lack of sleep. This study shows that they can improve their rest by minimizing the use of devices at night. Based on our data, it is likely that the sleep delay comes, at least in part, from the blue light coming from screens. "
And thus explains the importance of this study:
"Sleep disorders begin with minor symptoms of tiredness and poor health, but in the long term we know that sleep loss is associated with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. If we can now introduce simple measures to address this issue, we can avoid further health problems later. "
In Babies and moreDream in teenagers: why are they always sleepy?Photos | iStock
