Violent TV shows linked to sleep problems in kids

It’s also found that watching television after 7 pm was linked with increased sleep problems, regardless of whether the shows were violent or not, LiveScience reported.

The findings add to a growing body of research that children’s media use can disrupt their sleep. It’s concerning, because sleep troubles early in life may increase the risk of problems later on, including obesity and failure at school, the researchers said.

Most of the violent content the children watched was actually children programming, said study researcher Michelle Garrison. “It’s just children’s programming that’s really more appropriate for 7 to 12 year-old children than it is for 3 to 5 year-olds,” Garrison said. For the study, the researchers surveyed the parents of about 600 kids aged between three to five years.

Parents were asked how often their kids experienced sleep problems, including trouble falling sleep, nightmares, difficulty waking up or feeling tired during the day. They also kept a diary of their child’s TV viewing habits over one week and tracked when their children watched TV, how much they watched, what the programme was and whether the program was viewed with an adult. It was found that more TV that children watched in the evening, and the more violent content they watched during the day, the more likely they were to experience sleep problems.