Video Games Not Worse than TV for Sleep?

A new study indicates that video games might not cause significantly more sleep problems than TV.  A story by the BBC discusses the research that was conducted by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.  In the study, researchers compared the amount of time it took teens to get to sleep after playing the action video game Call of Duty 4, and the amount of time it took to get to sleep after watching the movie March of the Penguins…

Three fell asleep while watching the film, while none dozed off while playing Call of Duty.

The majority of the teenagers did take longer to fall asleep after playing the video game, but most were asleep within seven-and-a-half minutes – only four minutes longer than when they watched March of the Penguins.

For us here at SleepBetter.org, the question is whether this study indicates that video games don’t cause sleeplessness, or that it shows ALL video entertainment can cause sleep problems.  Regardless, we feel an ideal bedtime routine should not include either form of entertainment.