A major scientific review has found that simply having an electronic gadget¹ in the room leaves children 'switched on'.

一项重要的科学研究发现，只要孩子们的房间里放有电子产品，他们隐形的生物钟就一直得不到休息。

Youngsters are restless because they anticipate receiving texts and social media messages from friends, which affects their night-time routine even if parents impose rules about 'screen time'.

青少年们一直都处在睡眠不足的状态下，因为他们无视父母们规定的玩手机或者电脑的时间，在该休息时仍在和朋友们聊天、活跃在各大消息圈和社交媒体网络上。

The review found that children and teenagers who use an electronic device within 90 minutes of going to bed are twice as likely to get insufficient² sleep – and nearly three times as likely to feel sleepy during the day.

这项研究表明，在睡前90分钟还在玩手机或者电脑等电子设备的孩子或者是青少年，睡眠不足的几率比一般的孩子要大2倍，白天打瞌睡的几率更是几乎高达3倍。

Experts from King's College London and Cardiff University found that access to media devices at night, even without use, put children at 79 per cent increased risk of getting insufficient sleep, 46 per cent increased risk of poor quality sleep, and 127 per cent increased risk of daytime drowsiness³.

来自伦敦大学国王学院和卡蒂夫大学的专家发现，孩子们晚上接触这些媒体产品，即使是不使用，也会增加79%的造成睡眠不足的可能，46%低质量睡眠的可能以及127%白天打瞌睡精神不振的可能。

Dr Ben Carter, who led the review, said having access to social media at all hours meant children were 'always alert'.

这项调查的发起者本·卡特博士告诉我们，如果孩子一整天都跟这些社交媒体绑在一起，那说明他的身体一直都处于警觉状态，得不到放松。

'If the first thing you do in the morning is check your phone and the last thing you do at night is check your phone, that is indicative of addiction⁴ behaviour,' Dr Carter said.

卡特博士说：“如果你每天早晨起床的第一件事就是看手机，睡前的最后一件事也是看手机，那就说明你已经处于着迷状态了。”

Dr Carter, who stressed that his theory had not been proven, added: 'If you send a message an hour before you go to bed, you are still switched on when you try to sleep, in case there is a reply.'

卡特博士强调他的理论还没有被证实过，并说：“如果你睡觉前发了一条消息，那当你睡觉的时候肯定大脑还在运转，以免担心错过了别人的回复。”

Separate research suggests that 72 per cent of children and 89 per cent of adolescents have at least one device in their bedrooms and most are used near bedtime.

其他独立的研究表明，72%的孩子和89%的青少年在他们的房间里至少有一项电子设备，而且大部分都是睡前使用。

Dr Carter's team, whose work is published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal, reviewed 20 existing studies from four continents, involving more than 125,000 children aged between six and 19.

卡特博士研究团队的工作成果已经在《美国医学会期刊》儿科分刊上发表了，综述了来自四大洲的20个现有研究，其研究对象是年龄在6到19岁的约12.5万名儿童。

He said: 'Our study provides further proof of the detrimental⁵ effect of media devices on both sleep duration and quality.'

他表示：“我们的研究为证实社交媒体对睡眠时间和睡眠质量的有害影响提供了进一步的证据。”