Screen Time Increases Kids’ Risk of High Blood Pressure, Insulin Resistance

The more time children spend on screens, the higher their risk factors for cardiometabolic disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance, according to a study published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The authors found that each extra hour of screen time — including watching movies or TV, gaming, and using cellphones, tablets or computers for leisure — increased youths’ overall cardiometabolic risk compared to the average for children their age.

“This was true even after accounting for diet, exercise and sleep,” David Horner, M.D., Ph.D., the study’s lead author, told The Defender.

The link between screen time and cardiometabolic risk was even stronger in youths with poor sleep habits.

“Poor sleep, shorter nights and later bedtimes” all amplified the risk, Horner said.

The analysis suggests screen use may reduce sleep duration or extend the time it takes for a person to fall asleep, possibly through blue light exposure or increased stress, Horner said.

“These findings don’t surprise me at all,” Dr. Holly Groh, a retired Louisiana ophthalmologist who has tracked research on screen time’s negative health impacts for years, told The Defender.