Caffeine, technology ruining teens' sleep patterns

Researchers have for decades been studying the effect of increasing use of media at night and its impact on adolescent sleep time.

Now, a new study has for the first time evaluated the consequences of caffeine and technology at night and their effect on adolescent sleep.

Working with data gathered through interviews of 100 children ages 12 to 18, Christina Calamaro, assistant professor and director of the School's Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner master's specialty discovered that the more nighttime multitasking teens did, the more caffeine they consumed, and the less they slept.

Eighty-five percent of the teens in the study drank caffeine daily, and 11% of those she studied drank more than 400mg of caffeine daily—the equivalent of four espressos.

"It is not just about caffeine, it’s about calories," she said.

The study has been published in Pediatrics.