Enough sleep is important for children

Research shows children need to sleep for brain development and health. Here's why:

• Scientists know that children spend much more time than adults to the so-called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the dream stage of sleep cycles. Infants spend about eight hours in REM sleep; young adults spend about 90 minutes in REM sleep. REM sleep is an important time for brain activity. The brain remains active during the cycle like a dream when we awake. Scientists consider all of these activities associated with neural plasticity - the growth and changes in brain cells - and believe that REM sleep provides an opportunity for growth and change.

• In an American study of children aged 10 to 14 years, the investigators restricted their sleep only five hours. The next day, both abstract thinking and creativity (as measured by standardized tests) experienced a temporary decline. One study of Israeli children nine to 12 years, was released in 2003, showed that circumcised children sleep one hour a negative impact on the amount they could remember in standardized tests, said Avi Sadeh, author of the study and a professor in the department of psychology at Tel Aviv University.

• Lack of sleep in children begins during school years, says Sadeh. His study of school age children of Israel (from class 2, 4 and 6) in 200 found that students grades 6 an hour less sleep than younger children in the study and reported much higher rates of daytime sleepiness. "The behavior of the older child's bedroom might not meet their physiological needs," he concluded, and he warned that children at risk of chronic sleep deprivation.

• A study in Italy in an emergency room for boys in 2001 shows the relationship between the risk of injury and sleeping less.

• Children who are not getting enough sleep also can show signs of hyperactivity disorder, and more activity. "If you have children who have attention problems, impulsivity, hyperactivity or other behavioral problems, you should examine sleep problems," said Dr. Judith Owens, director of child sleep disorders clinic at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Canada. Although hyperactivity is not entirely caused by lack of sleep, more sleep is the first thing advised by doctors to treat this condition.

Source : Most-minor