Ditch the phone for a longer sleep?

Excessive smartphone use may be interfering with teenagers getting enough sleep.

Research led by San Diego State University found 52 per cent of US teenagers who spent more than five hours a day on their smartphones got fewer than seven hours of sleep each night, as did 35 per cent of those who spent more than one hour a day on them.

Over the six years the teenagers were studied, electronic device and social media use increased and were associated with increased odds of short sleep. The number of teens sleeping fewer than seven hours a night increased by 17 per cent from 2009 to 2015.

Researchers noted an abrupt change in teens’ sleep habits around 2012, the same time as smartphones became more prevalent.

The research analysed data from US surveys of more than 360,000 teens between 2009-2015.

Health experts recommend eight to 10 hours of sleep a night for teenagers.

Sleep Medicine, December 2017