Is "screen time" bad?

As a parent, I wonder if screen time is bad. I came across this study, that seems to be widely debated.

The study basically analysed some large datasets, to examine whether screen time negatively affected teens (controlling for various factors).

What they found: basically almost no effect.

Caveats:

• "screen time" is a huge category: it could include social media doomscrolling, but it could also include doing homework on a computer.

• also, the study didn’t separate how screen time may affect different teens differently (e.g. boy vs girl, different ages).

Subsequent papers have delved deeper, and indeed found not all screen time is harmless.

Thoughts:

1. screen time per se is not necessarily good or bad. We need to look into the specific screen activity.

2. I still worry about eye sight though (kids staring at screens will have worse eyesight?). Need to explore more papers!

Does flying increase cancer risk?

Going on a tangent from another Board. We were talking about "space weather" and landed on the question of "flying and radiation".

Found this literature review found that:

aircrew have higher rates of certain cancers, such as melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, and breast cancer in female flight attendants, compared to the general population. However, the evidence does not clearly prove that cosmic ionizing radiation alone causes these cancers, because other factors—like disrupted sleep patterns, lifestyle, and exposure to chemicals—also affect risk.

(Quoting the Credo summary)

To me, it sounds plausible. Flight attendants, pilots, and frequent flyers beware!

20g of creatine to boost cognition?

On an episode of Huberman Labs, guest Rhonda Patrick talks about creatine for cognition. When she's sleep deprived, she takes 20g of creatine, and says it helps (could be placebo effect, she says).

I looked up a specific paper that mentions this 20g figure. Interestingly, the paper is a review by the European Food Safety Authority, and it reviews 21 studies.

As the credo summary highlights, the review found:

Two studies suggested short-term working-memory benefits at 20 grams daily, but lower doses and longer use did not reproduce them.

Would be interesting to deep dive into those two studies!

Ok to let babies cry themselves to sleep?

Came across this study (a small randomised control trial) that tested (a version of) this question.

Basically, they say it's fine. (well, a "gentler" version -- where parents don't completely ignore babies, but wait a few minutes before checking in on crying babies)

The researchers compared two techniques (to put babies to sleep):

• (A) "graduated extinction" (parents wait longer and longer before responding to a baby's cries)

• (B) "bedtime fading" (bedtime is gradually moved later)

• [and a control group, where parents were given basic information]

They were trying to test whether method A (graduated extinction) was harmful (since you let the babies cry by themselves).

Their main conclusion (from the credo summary):

both graduated extinction and bedtime fading led to babies falling asleep faster. The graduated extinction group also woke up less during the night and spent less time awake after falling asleep.

...

After one year, there were no differences between groups in children's emotional or behavioral problems, and no differences in how securely children were attached to their parents

Does “mouth taping” improve sleep?

TLDR: there is some (non-conclusive) evidence mouth taping improves sleep. But if you have trouble breathing through your nose (e.g. have some nasal-blockage condition, or a cold), then give mouth taping a skip.

I’ve been seeing these companies selling mouth tape on instagram — to prevent mouth-breathing when sleeping (which is suppose to help). I have tried them, but I can’t really say for sure if they help me.

Found this aptly titled 2025 review “Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: A systemic review” .

What the review looked at?

• The paper reviewed 10 other studies – that tested either mouth tape, mouth-sealing patches, or chinstraps.

• Those study participants were mostly sleep-clinic patients. (So unclear whether the findings apply more generally)

• It wasn’t a meta-analysis, as the 10 studies weren’t similar enough. The review authors also rated the 10 studies’ methodology poorly (in terms of ability to draw generalised findings). 

• (So all-in-all, take the results (below) with a pinch of salt!)

What the review found? (My interpretation of the findings: check out the credo summary yourself!)

• Some (weak) evidence that mouth taping reduces sleep apnoea. 

• Some evidence mouth taping reduces snoring and “oxygen desaturation” (when blood oxygen go below a certain level)

• Mouth tape likelier to be effective if used with a jaw device.

• Some of the studies excluded people with “nasal obstruction” (which makes sense). So we can’t say mouth taping helps these people (which isn’t surprising).

I should probably drink more coffee

Think coffee is a bad habit? Research actually suggests otherwise. This umbrella review of 218 meta-analyses concludes that 3-4 cups a day is associated with lower risk for heart disease and all-cause mortality. Check out the source to read more!

Tldr: "screen time" broadly speaking not inherently good or bad, depends on the specific activity (including social media for e.g.).

Autism rates probably not rising

Thought this study (a systematic review) deserved its own post. The review concluded:

About one in every 100 children worldwide is diagnosed with autism, and this number has gone up over time, mostly because people are more aware of autism and better at identifying it.

The review covered:

71 studies from 34 countries ... covering 99 different estimates of autism prevalence.

(Quotes from the Credo summary or the study.)

The point is, we aren't actually facing spike in autism -- whether due to vaccines or otherwise.

For the parents!

Sleep training -- impact on child 5 years later?

Another "baby sleep strategy" post! This one focused on longer-term impacts of sleep training strategies.

This paper follows an experiment, where one group of parents/baby received nurse assistance (to help with baby sleep strategies), and the other didn't. Researchers also followed up after 5 years.

What did it find? No effect after 5 years -- on parent or child. (But in the immediate term, sleep training does help)

My takeaway? Try specific sleep strategies with your baby; but if it's too late and you didn't -- it's not a long term worry!