The pandemic has dramatically increased exposure to electronic devices in children and young people, leading to a sharp increase in sleep disorders, which affect one in three children. It emerges from a study conducted on more than 1,000 children and adolescents and coordinated by the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital together with La Sapienza University and Tor Vergata. The findings were published in Sleep Medicine. The study analyzed 1084 questionnaires administered between April and June 2021 to parents of children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years.
The study found that compared to the pre-pandemic period, the increase in screen time affected 68.7% of children and young people. Specifically, exposure time more than tripled for school reasons (from just under an hour a day to three and a half hours) and concerned 72% of children and young people. While for recreational use the use almost doubled (from one hour and three quarters to three hours) and concerned 49.7%. Considering only the evening hours (after 18 pm) the increase in exposure time to the devices was observed in 30% of the sample (325 children). It has gone from just 13.7% of children and young people who spent more than two hours in front of screens before Covid to 29.1% (more than double). The study showed an increase of more than 50% in sleep disorders compared to the pre-pandemic period. In detail, it has gone from 240 children and adolescents who already showed sleep disorders before the start of the pandemic, to 367 during the pandemic: 33.9% of the entire sample, practically one in three minors.
"The data have shown a correlation between the increase in the use of electronic devices during Covid and the increase in sleep disorders - explains Dr. Romina Moavero of the neurology of the development of the Bambino Gesù - But it is the lifestyle of children and young people to have changed profoundly. Electronic devices are now part of their lives, both school and social. All this only underlines the importance of sleep hygiene recommendations that must always be considered the first line of treatment".