Parents who actively enforce bedtime rules for their children may help them get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep can have several health implications ranging from poor attention that can lead to bad grades to poor social interaction, irritability and even depression in some cases.
Re-think of your child's sleeping pattern if you haven't fixed a routine yet! A recent study conducted by the BMC Public Health looking at the effect of different types of parental support on child sleep. According to the study, parents who actively enforce bedtime rules for their children may help them get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep can have several health implications ranging from poor attention that can lead to bad grades to poor social interaction, irritability and even depression in some cases of extreme sleep deprivation.
For the study, the researchers used self-reported data from over 1,600 parents with at least one child under the age of 18 years. Around 94% of parents reported that they encouraged their child to go to bed at a specific time, and just over 84% reported enforcing bedtime rules. Parents who reported enforcing bedtime rules were 59% more likely help their child meet the sleep guidelines on a weekday, researchers noted.
It was also found that the number of children meeting the actual sleep guidelines has increased between the age of 5 and 9 years, but has declined between the age of 10 and 17 years. More over children aged 15 years showed the greatest difference between weekday and weekend sleep with 38.3% fewer children meeting sleep guidelines over weekends compared to the weekdays.
Further it was seen that parents who reported encouraging their child to go to bed at a specific time were less likely to have children meeting sleep guidelines on weekdays. Whereas Parents who reported enforcing rules about their child's bedtime were more likely to have their child meeting sleep guidelines on weekdays, which may reflect general parental expectations, bedtime structure, or the proactive nature of rule-setting.
Accordign to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), kids between the age of 3 and 5 years should get at least 10 to 13 hours of sleep every night while kids between the age of 6 and 13 years should sleep for at least 9 to 11 hours and teenagers between the age of 14 and 17 years need 8 to 10 hours of rest. For young adults over 18 years of age, anything between 7 to 9 hours is good as per the NSF.
Healthy sleep allows us to function optimally when we are awake, to have what is called optimal alertness, getting enough sleep will also help the child in expanding their attention span, promote sufficient growth, better heart functioning and improve overall physical health.
(With inputs from IANS)
For the study, the researchers used self-reported data from over 1,600 parents with at least one child under the age of 18 years. Around 94% of parents reported that they encouraged their child to go to bed at a specific time, and just over 84% reported enforcing bedtime rules. Parents who reported enforcing bedtime rules were 59% more likely help their child meet the sleep guidelines on a weekday, researchers noted.
It was also found that the number of children meeting the actual sleep guidelines has increased between the age of 5 and 9 years, but has declined between the age of 10 and 17 years. More over children aged 15 years showed the greatest difference between weekday and weekend sleep with 38.3% fewer children meeting sleep guidelines over weekends compared to the weekdays.
Further it was seen that parents who reported encouraging their child to go to bed at a specific time were less likely to have children meeting sleep guidelines on weekdays. Whereas Parents who reported enforcing rules about their child's bedtime were more likely to have their child meeting sleep guidelines on weekdays, which may reflect general parental expectations, bedtime structure, or the proactive nature of rule-setting.
Accordign to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), kids between the age of 3 and 5 years should get at least 10 to 13 hours of sleep every night while kids between the age of 6 and 13 years should sleep for at least 9 to 11 hours and teenagers between the age of 14 and 17 years need 8 to 10 hours of rest. For young adults over 18 years of age, anything between 7 to 9 hours is good as per the NSF.
Healthy sleep allows us to function optimally when we are awake, to have what is called optimal alertness, getting enough sleep will also help the child in expanding their attention span, promote sufficient growth, better heart functioning and improve overall physical health.
(With inputs from IANS)
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