Television is part of the daily lives of many young families and a new study shows that watching TV in the evening and violent shows in the daytime can disrupt sleep of preschoolers.

Overall, preschool-age children watched, on average, 1 hour and 12 minutes of television a day, according to the study published in Pediatrics today. Each additional hour of TV watching in the evening was associated with a noticeable jump in sleep problems, researchers found. Watching violent shows during the day also was associated with increases in sleep problems.

These effects were not mitigated by adult co-use, nor did they seem to vary according to type of violence or whether content was animated versus live-action. – “Media Use and Child Sleep: The Impact of Content, Timing, and Environment.” 6/27/11.

Perhaps even more surprising, other research and studies found between 20 percent and 43 percent of preschoolers have TV sets in their bedrooms, the article reported. This new study found parents whose children have a TV in their room were more likely to report their child was tired during the day.

We live in a digital age, when screen time, not just on television, but on cell phones, laptops, tablets and cars, is spreading into more aspects of the lives of our children and families. Increasingly, parents have to manage the growing number of mediums where their children can watch the tube. This research not only highlights the impact of evening and violent television on preschoolers’ sleep, it makes it clear we need more research.

Future research in this area should examine whether changes in child media use can significantly improve a child’s sleep over time, as well as the degree to which inadequate sleep mediates the previously reported relationship between high levels of media use and subsequent child behavior and learning problems. – Pediatrics.

Check it out.