Evaluation of Sleep and Television Viewing Habits of Primary School Students

Abstract

Objective: Sleep is crucial for healthy growth and development of children. Unsuitable television viewing habits are one of the important factors that disturb sleep patterns. This study was conducted to evaluate the sleep and television viewing habits of primary school students. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a descriptive study. The data were collected from parents of students aged 6-11 years, who were studying at a primary school between December 2016 and February 2017. The study sample consisted of 299 parents. In order to collect data, a personal information form, an information form to determine television viewing habits and the Children’s Sleeping Habits Questionnaire were administered to the study subjects. Percentages, means, standard deviations, frequencies, and analysis of variance were used to evaluate the data. Ethical permission and consent from the parents were taken for conducting the study. Results: The mean age of the children was 8.64±1.16, and the parents’ mean age was 35.55±6.23. The mean number of hours spent viewing television was 5.62 hours per day. The mean sleep time of the children was 9.37 hours. The mean total score obtained from Children’s Sleeping Habits Questionnaire was determined to be 47.92±8.18. Conclusion: It was found that the child’s success at school, the television viewing time during the weekday, the child’s preference for viewing time, the response to being asked to turn the television off, and the parents’ viewing time significantly affected the total Children’s Sleeping Habits Questionnaire score. A significant difference was found between parental income status, educational status, school success, bedtime resistance, and sleep duration. Also, a significant difference was found between television viewing habits and at least one sleep problem, except night wakes.

Keywords

• Child
• television
• sleep problems
• nurse