August 13th, 2020 || Sleep, Children, Learning by Saunri & Dr.Manvir Bhatia
Importance of Sleep In Children
In 2015, the National Sleep Foundation has emphasized the importance of sleep in children and recommended that the amount of sleep for school children should be between 9 to 11 hours. During childhood, children learn new things constantly, and the benefits of good sleep in children involve being alert, attentive, and receptive to learning these new things.
Benefits of good sleep in children
The importance of sleep in children is emphasized by the role of sleep in memory consolidation, building and expanding neural networks and plasticity, thus enhancing cognitive function, which is important for learning and academic performance.
A lot of research suggests that the benefits of good sleep in children involve improvement in motor-related skill learning and memory. Children are constantly learning and experience new things, such as riding a bicycle, writing with a pen, etc, and healthy sleep should enhance their ability to perform these tasks, which shows the importance of sleep in children.
A study published in 2013 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found benefits of good sleep in children, where preschool children who took naps, showed enhanced learning ability and memory.
Poor sleep reduces learning ability in children
There are many benefits of good sleep in children. The importance of sleep in children is also shown by the ill effects of poor sleep that causes:
- Drowsiness
- Fatigue
- Reduced energy
- Increased anxiety
- Increased irritability
- Lack of concentration
Sleep deprivation reduces learning and memory and the child’s academic performance. The importance of sleep in children is further emphasized by a study conducted in Chicago in 2004 that found that those children who had good sleep had significantly higher school grades as compared to their peers who did not have a healthy sleep at night. Increased Academic performance is just one of the benefits of good sleep in children.
Due to the lockdown situation, the daily schedule of wake up and bedtime has been disturbed, and the importance of sleep in children may be neglected. Due to online education children have been exposed to more amount of bright light from electronic gadgets, which hinder sleep, cause sleep disturbances and not result in healthy sleep, hence the benefits of good sleep in children are getting reduced. Parents must ensure that screen time should be limited to the early hours of the day. They should also ensure that children get enough exercise during the day. Thus, parents must prioritize the importance of sleep in children and should ensure maximum benefits of good sleep in children by letting children get 9 to 11 hours of sleep every day, during this critical period of childhood.
To seek help or know more about the importance of sleep in children and the benefits of sleep in children, you can visit the Neurology and Sleep Centre, the 1st sleep centre in the country accredited by Indian Board of Sleep Medicine at L-23, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi-110016 (INDIA)
Or give a call on +91-11-46070321, +91-9643500270,
Or write toinfo@neurologysleepcentre.com
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