EDOR celebrates World Sleep Day 2025

Professor Rachael Taylor

EDOR researchers have recognised World Sleep Day 2025, presenting their novel sleep research at a seminar in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago.

Professor Rachael Taylor (EDOR Director) and Professor Barbara Galland (EDOR researcher) co-presented at the seminar, highlighting their novel research into the relationship between sleep health and digital screens.

Professor Galland outlined the current international evidence on screen use and sleep, noting that many of the published studies are not able to determine a specific cause-and-effect of screen use on sleep. However, the evidence so far suggests that sleep is fairly resilient to technology use just before bedtime.

Professor Taylor presented results from the Paediatric Research Group at Otago, which has used wearable cameras to measure the effect of screen use on sleep in teenagers. Use of digital devices by teenagers in the two hours before bedtime had little impact on sleep, however screen use while in bed had a detrimental effect on sleep.

World Sleep Day Theme - Make Sleep Health a Priority

Professor Barbara Galland

World Sleep Day is held each year on the Friday before the Equinox, where the length of the day matches the length of the night. This year, the theme for World Sleep Day was "Make Sleep Health a Priority", highlighting the need for people to prioritise their sleep health for wellbeing.

Over the past 10 years EDOR has engaged in sleep research that relates to improving health outcomes including obesity, diabetes and wellbeing. Professor Rachael Taylor has lead a team that has explored the mechanisms that link sleep and obesity in children, and the role that digital screen use plays in sleep health.

Professor Barbara Galland is an experienced sleep researcher and head of the Paediatric Sleep Research Group at the University of Otago. Professor Galland's research builds on the growing awareness that good sleep health is essential for optimal child development, influencing behavioural regulation, learning, physical and mental health, and overall well-being.

EDOR sleep researchers are now implementing a $5M HRC funded research programme to improve child and adolescent sleep. The Whakatipu Rakatira programme involves four research projects that aim to improve sleep, as a pathway to meaningful improvements in health and wellbeing for all young people in Aotearoa.