Impact of Screens on Children's Growth

NCT ID: NCT07026812

Last Updated: 2025-06-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 150 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-09-26
• Study Completion Date: 2025-06-01

Brief Summary

Short stature is defined as a height less than -2 Standard Deviations (SD) for age and a slowing of growth velocity by a loss of 1 SD/year. The causes of short stature are multiple (chronic diseases, growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, genetic syndromes, etc.). However, nearly 30% are considered idiopathic, with no identified etiology (Naccache et al., unpublished).

Growth hormone (GH) is secreted in a pulsatile manner with maximum peaks primarily at night, raising questions about the relationship between sleep disturbances and short stature.

In children, one of the main causes of sleep disturbances in the digital age is screen use, which is becoming increasingly important, particularly in the pediatric population.

Detailed Description

During the night, physiologically, the retina, which no longer receives light signals, sends a message to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the main key element of the internal clock, and to the pineal gland, which synthesizes melatonin, the sleep hormone. Exposing screens to blue light therefore disrupts melatonin secretion, which leads to a disruption of the circadian rhythm and therefore sleep. Note that this effect of light on melatonin secretion depends on the time of day of exposure, the intensity, and the duration. Thus, exposure to screens before bedtime can be responsible for a delay or even an absence of melatonin synthesis, particularly in the case of nighttime awakenings.

While many studies have examined the impact of screens on children's psychological balance, weight, etc., none, to our knowledge, has examined the potential impact of screens on children's height growth. Hypothesis of this project: 70% of GH synthesis takes place at night, a few minutes after entering slow-wave sleep, sleep disturbed by screens could mean a lower secretion of GH and consequently a delay in height growth.

The objective of this project is to evaluate the impact of screen consumption on sleep and the impact of sleep on idiopathic growth disorder.

Conditions

Growth Disorders

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: CASE_ONLY
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Growth hormone stimulation test group

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Children aged 6 to 16 years old coming to the day hospital for a growth hormone stimulation test or an oral provocation test (without growth disorders)
• Not opposed to participating in the study
• Patients affiliated with the Social Security system

Exclusion Criteria

• Growth hormone deficiency confirmed by 2 tests
• Hypothyroidism
• Hypercorticism
• All chronic diseases
• Skeletal pathologies: Turner syndrome, constitutional bone disease Intrauterine growth retardation
• Pubertal delay defined by absence of puberty onset >13 years in girls and 14 years in boys
• Patient under guardianship

• Minimum Eligible Age: 6 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University Hospital, Rouen

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Mireille MC CASTANET, Professor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Hospital, Rouen

Mireille MC CASTANET, Professor

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

University Hospital, Rouen

Locations

University Hospital of Rouen

Rouen, , France

Countries

France

Other Identifiers

ID RCB : 2021-A01115-36

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2021/138/OB

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id