Parents have been urged to stop children's access to screen time an hour before they go to sleep.
Experts in the UK have warned that allowing children to look at phones, tablets, or other screens right before their bedtime can disrupt their sleep and general well being.
Britain’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have released the country's first official guidelines on screen time and the effects it can have on young children's health.
They recommend limiting children's screen time and enforcing a curfew for when the phone, tablet, or TV should be turned off.
Repeated use can also lead to a lack of exercise, however the college has said that such devices are also useful tools for education and learning about the world.
88 percent of children and young people surveyed said that screen use was negatively affecting their sleep.
One and a half hours was the average time spent on a phone or tablet before going to sleep.
Dr Max Davie said that there remains a grey area around limiting screen time from family to family.
"We suggest that age-appropriate boundaries are established, negotiated by parent and child that everyone in the family understands," he said.
"When these boundaries are not respected, consequences need to be put in place.
"It is also important that adults in the family reflect on their own level of screen time in order to have a positive influence on younger members."
The college devised a list of questions for parents to ask themselves to figure out if their child is using their screen time in a beneficial way.
This is them:
- Is your family's screen time under control?
- Does screen use interfere with what your family want to do?
- Does screen use interfere with sleep?
- Are you able to control snacking during screen time?
The full guide can be accessed
here. 
