Scientists Say Tablet PCs Are Bad For Teens

Nowadays you can walk into any home, restaurant, or department store and you are sure to find a child, preteen, and teenager on some sort of Tablet PC device. However, there is a new warning that parents should listen about these devices. Find out what experts are saying!

I am guilty of the very same thing. I have my Tablet PC in hand with me in bed reading to until I get tired. New research is showing that this could be bad for the body's natural clock, circadian rhythm, because the light from the back-lit screens can reduce a persons melatonin, the chemical our bodies release to make us tired, level by 22%. Which could equate to an hour of lost sleep.

And it is not just Tablet PCs that are the culprits researchers say that even smartphones are lumped into this category. When the team studied participants with just one hour of exposure there was not a significant suppression of the chemical but a dramatic reduction after two hours.

So what can you do? For now the researchers suggest reducing the brightness to its lowest setting so that you can reduce the effects of the light. Or just completely give up or take the phone or tablet away from you kiddo, husband, and yourself a couple hours before bedtime. Hey now there is a novel idea! Have the much rumored and what seems to be disappearing family time!