Watching television or gaming before bed makes little difference to a child's sleep.
A child's sleep isn't impacted by watching TV or gaming
Experts have long feared that screen time in the evening can harm a youngster's quality of rest but boffins in New Zealand have found that it has minimal impact.
The team tracked the screen time of dozens of children between the ages of 11 and 14 and found the devices only impacted sleep if they were used in bed.
Dr. Bradley Bronsan, lead author of the study at the University of Otago, said: "Our most interesting findings were that this screen time before they got into bed had little impact on sleep that night.
"However, screen time once in bed did impair their sleep - it stopped them from going to sleep for about half an hour, and reduced the amount of sleep they got that night."
He continued: "We need to revisit sleep guidelines, so they fit the world we live in, and actually make sense - the current ones aren't achievable or appropriate for how we live."