HMN 2025: How few teens follow pre-bed guidelines, sees minimal effect on sleep

Sleep guidelines suggest no screens, no exercise, and no food in the hour before bed, but do they work and how many young people follow them?

A University of Otago—?t?kou Whakaihu Waka study explored if youth adhere to the current pre-bed recommendations and how that impacts their sleep.

Lead author Chao Gu, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Medicine, says there were two key questions they wanted to answer.

“Are the recommendations backed up by good evidence? And are the recommendations practical in reality?

“Youth and families are often told not to use screens, not to exercise, and not to eat in the hour before bed to ensure a good night’s sleep. However, the evidence does not necessarily show that limiting these pre-bed behaviors helps with sleep. In reality, we also do not know how many youths are actually following these recommendations,” she says.

The study, published in Pediatrics Open Science, used body cameras and detailed food records to look at what young people did in the hour before bedtime in their typical daily life, and how these sleep hygiene behaviors influenced their sleep that night.

Ninety-nine percent of participants used screens and 63% ate before bed. Only 22% of them exercised before bed.

“Not many teenagers followed current sleep guidelines, but those who did experienced little difference in their sleep.

“It is very common for youth to use screens, quite common for them to have some food, but less common for them to be very physically active in the hour before bed.”

Gu believes the results highlight the need for further research on the topic, and a possible revisit of the current recommendations.

“Sleep is incredibly important for teenagers to enable them to develop and function at their best, but so few studies have looked at pre-bed behavior and how it can impact rest using objective measures such as cameras.”

The researchers are currently undertaking a study of 10–15-year-olds which they hope will provide robust and directional evidence for such revisions and help improve bedtime guidance for families.

The content is provided for information purposes only.