People who spend the most time in front of screens usually have an unbalanced diet, sleep poorly and feel more stress.
Screens are harmful to health because they tire the eyes and disrupt natural cycles, such as sleep. They also have a more global harmful effect: researchers at Arizona State University (USA) have found that people who use screens the most have the worst health habits. They publish their results in BMC Public Health. “Much research on screen time has focused primarily on televisionnotes Chris Wharton, author of the study. With the development of all these other devices that people use throughout the day, we wanted to study how behaviors and health-related factors depend on screens.”
Several health factors analyzed
The study was carried out through a survey: 900 Americans responded, all of whom had a television and at least one other device with a screen, such as a tablet or smartphone. All participants completed questionnaires to determine time spent in front of screens during the day, eating habits, duration and quality of sleep, perceived stress, physical activity and body mass index.
The researchers then analyzed all of this data and found links between the different pieces of information. Thus, the heaviest television and smartphone users had the poorest eating habits, compared to those who used computers and tablets a lot. Heavy smartphone users had the poorest sleep quality compared to other respondents. “Screens dominate us, and they really harm our health”underlines the scientist.
Binge watching harms our diet
Chris Wharton is interested in a recent phenomenon, linked to the appearance of streaming platforms like Netflix: binge watching, that is to say the fact of watching series or video programs in large quantities. According to the study, this habit is associated with poor food hygiene. The people concerned eat more fast food, more regularly have family meals in front of the TV and are also more stressed.
For the scientist, it is essential to reduce the time spent in front of screens. “We have qualitative data that indicates that when people eliminate screens from their lives in the evening, magical things happen.” Generally, individuals spend more time with family, cook more and are more physically active. Your phone can even help reduce your usage time. Today, many smartphone models offer a limitation system to reduce the time spent in front of this screen and statistics, useful for evaluating the level of addiction.
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