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Posts tagged children and lack of sleep
Poor Sleep Health Results in Pain After Surgery
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Poor sleep health can affect children after surgery.
There are a number of things that your child goes through as they grow up. Many of these situations involve their health, requiring that they undergo pediatric surgery to remedy whatever ills them. However, what are the after effects of surgery on a child? One study published in The Journal of Pain hopes to find the answer. Researchers discovered that 20 percent of children experience persistent pain after surgery. What is more revealing is that poor sleep health may be the cause.
How Rest Helps the Body
Sleep is important for many reasons as it plays a crucial role in rejuvenating the body’s basic functions and your overall health. The more rest your body receives, the healthier your brain, emotional well-being, physical health, and quality of life will be. For example, sleep maintains a good balance of hormones, especially the ones that control hunger and your blood pressure. Poor sleep health can cause your body to suffer, leaving it at risk for issues like obesity, heart disease, or high blood pressure.
The CDC recommends that children, ages 3-5 years old, receive at least 10-13 hours a day. Meanwhile, older kids, ages 6-12 years old, should sleep for 9-12 hours a day. The CDC states that “Signs of poor sleep quality include not feeling rested even after getting enough sleep, repeatedly waking up during the night, and experiencing symptoms of sleep disorders (such as snoring or gasping for air). Improving sleep quality may be helped by better sleep habits or being diagnosed and treated for any sleep disorder you may have.” For more recommendations by the CDC, click here.
Evaluating Poor Sleep Health in Kids
Researchers from the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital studied 66 children who underwent major surgery. Over a four-month period, the researchers monitored the sleep patterns of the subjects. They wanted to access the relationship between sleep and pain, and see if poor sleep health is associated with greater pain after surgery. To some extents they were correct.
“Poor sleep quality predicted greater subsequent pain intensity the next day and our findings suggest that poor sleep quality may continue to influence the experience of post-surgical pain in children even four months after surgery,” said lead author Jennifer Rabbits, MB, ChB, Department of Anesthesiology at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
On average, most of the children returned to an adequate quality of sleep four months after surgery. However, looking at the children individually revealed the connect to sleep and pain. Rabbits and the rest of the study’s authors hope that this will show how important sleep quality is. If improve their sleeping habits after major surgery, it could aid in reducing post-surgical pain and recovery.
Aside to post-surgical recovery, good quality sleep has proven necessary in improving many other aspects of your health. Other studies have shown that sleep can stimulate your brain’s ability to learn and reduce stress. If you want your child to remain healthy, make sure their sleep schedule is consistent and they aren’t distracted by electronic devices during the night. This will help them stick to better sleeping habits and maintain their overall quality of life.
Late Nights Affect Brain Activity in Children
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It important that your child doesn’t spend late nights awake.
Are you monitoring your child after telling them to go to bed? Well, if research from the University Hospital of Zurich is any indication, it’s time to make sure they put the tablets away, turn the lights out, and turn off the TV. Sleep deprivation is serious. When your kids go to bed late on a school night, this can impact their health. In fact, late nights up appear to affect the brain.
Testing Children During Late Nights
It’s important to know that a child’s mind is still developing. So, their early years is a crucial time and sleep deprivation may affect them differently than adults. At the University Hospital of Zurich, scientists wanted to know exactly how their brains change due to a lack of sleep. The author of the study, Salome Kurth states “The process of sleep may be involved in brain ‘wiring’ in childhood and thus affect brain maturation.”
Researchers from several universities assembled 13 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old. The first night, they let the children go to sleep at a regularly scheduled time. However, during the next night, they kept the children awake for a long time by reading and playing with them. The results between the two nights showed that the back regions of the brain are affected when children don’t sleep well.
Why Change in Brain Activity Occurs
When the body does not receive enough sleep, it requires deep sleep. This is true for both adults and children. This deep sleep produces slow-wave activity in the brain, an electrical pattern which helps a person recover. Slow-wave activity occurs in regions of the brain affected by a lack of sleep.
For most adults, the frontal region of the brain is affected by sleep deprivation. In this new study, it showed that the back regions of the brain were impacted in children. The back region or parieto-occipital area of the brain controls auditory, visual, and somatosensory information.
Hopefully, more research with a larger group of children can develop more conclusive results. For now, it is wise to tuck your children in and make sure that they are sleeping enough at night.
Sleep Deprivation in Kids Leads to Bad Eating Habits
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Sleep deprivation in kids is becoming a rising problem.
How are your children sleeping? In our last post, we talked about how a lack of sleep in adolescents affects their life choices in the future. Another study has discovered that preschoolers (Ages 3 to 4 years old) are more likely to develop bad eating habits if they suffer from sleep deprivation. Find out why it is important for children to take naps during the first few years of their lives, and how to prevent sleep deprivation in kids.
What Research Says About Sleep Deprivation in Kids
The research was performed at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where researchers sought to mimic the sleeping habits of preschoolers. They did this by depriving the kids of an afternoon nap and keeping them up two hours later than their bedtimes. The next day, they let the children sleep as much as they could.
The researchers’ test resulted in the kids consuming at least 20 percent more calories than they would normally eat. Even after receiving an adequate amount of sleep the next day, the children still consumed at least 14 percent more calories than usual.
Apparently, this issue is becoming a common problem. The National Sleep Foundation has found that 30 percent of these children are not sleeping enough.
“We found that sleep loss increased the dietary intake of preschoolers on both the day of and the day after restricted sleep,” says Assistant Professor LeBourgeois of the Department of Integrative Physiology and lead author.
How to Prevent Sleep Deprivation
This study is revealing. It confirms that the link between sleep and obesity is the same in children as it is in adults. In order to prevent your child from developing bad eating habits, here are a few points to remember:
- Preschoolers need their naps.
- Children around the age of 3 and 4 years old need go to bed at a regularly scheduled time.
- According to the CDC, preschoolers need at least 11 to 12 hours of sleep a day.
Sleeping Habits Linked to Drug Abuse in Adolescents
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Can your child’s sleeping habits lead them to make negative life choices?
The importance of sleep is crucial to our development and well-being. Unfortunately, for many people in America, our sleeping habits are not the best. This is especially true in the early years of our lives. Growing adolescents need rest and when they don’t receive the proper amount, it can lead to dire consequences. As the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) recently discovered, there may be a relation between a child’s sleeping habits and their likelihood to abuse substances.
The Importance of Good Sleeping Habits
The study by the UPMC showed that children who do not sleep enough and experience poor sleep quality are more likely to try alcohol and cannabis. Many years ago, the mothers of 186 boys completed a Child Sleep Questionnaire when the children were 11 years old. Researchers followed up with these boys about their use of cannabis and alcohol after they turned 20 years old.
It was after this follow-up that the researchers saw the link between sleeping habits and substance abuse. In fact, they estimated that the for every hour less of sleep that an 11-year old boy received, the earlier they were likely to use these substances. This lack of sleep is more of a risk for kids during late childhood. It is also a situation that some scientists hope they can prevent.
According to Brant P. Hasler, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology, and lead author of the study, “Doing what we can to ensure sufficient sleep duration and improve sleep quality during late childhood may have benefits in terms of reducing the use of these substances later in life.”
While this study proved a need for children to obtain better quality sleep, it only analyzed how a lack of sleep affect young boys. Hopefully, another study will confirm if adolescent girls are affected in the same way. What we do know is that parents need to monitor their child’s sleeping habits.
Sleep Loss: Children at Risk For Emotional Disorders
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Sleep loss can affect your child’s emotional state, leading to disorders like insomnia and anxiety.
Parents constantly worry about their child’s development. They stress over their child’s health, as well as their emotional state of being. However, what if their health and emotions were tied together? One study suggests that sleep loss in children increases their risk for emotional disorders.
Emotional Disorders
Scientists for the University of Houston recently revealed the long-term effects of sleep loss. Without an adequate amount of sleep, children are at risk for developing depression and anxiety as they grow up. These are serious conditions that can have severe consequences down the line.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1 out of 20 Americans, 12 years of age and older, reported current depression in 2009–2012. Depression comes with a variety of emotional symptoms. This includes a loss of appetite, loss of interest, sadness and hopelessness, insomnia, and thoughts of death or suicide.
While occasional anxiety is common among people, conditions such as general anxiety, panic, and social anxiety disorder can deeply affect one’s quality of life. Symptoms of this condition can affect the way people operate within the world around them, as they are in constant fear. Intense worry, attacks of fear, and an inability to interact with others, are just some of the issues people with anxiety have to deal with on a daily basis.
How Sleep Loss Affects Children Emotionally
Candice Alfano, a clinical psychologist and associate psychology professor at the University of Houston, says that the study’s purpose was to determine “how children appraise, express, regulate and later recall emotional experiences, both when sleep is adequate and when it is inadequate.”
The study tested 50 children, between the ages of 7 to 11, by restricting their sleep. They found that the children not only began to show sign of negative emotions, but were less impacted by positive experiences. Sleep loss seemed to have affected how they view things emotionally, putting a negative veil over everything they did, and making activities less exciting.
In the end, Alfano suggested that “Continually experiencing inadequate sleep can eventually lead to depression, anxiety and other types of emotional problems. Parents, therefore, need to think about sleep as an essential component of overall health in the same way they do nutrition, dental hygiene and physical activity. If your child has problems waking up in the morning or is sleepy during the day, then their nighttime sleep is probably inadequate. This can result for several reasons, such as a bedtime that is too late, non-restful sleep during the night, or an inconsistent sleep schedule.”
Sleep Apnea in Children: Learning Challenges
01 year ago
by ADMIN
in sleep apnea
How well your child sleeps is an essential part of their development. Sleep apnea in children threatens their educational development.
As parents raise their children they often worry about the state of their well-being. Thoughts such as how they are sleeping throughout the night, and how well they are preforming in school, are examples of everyday concerns. Sometimes, those concerns are one in the same. Sleep apnea in children is a growing issue, and a recent study shows that learning challenges are also on the rise.
How Sleep Apnea in Children Affects Schoolwork
Scientists from the University of Chicago brought together 1,359 public school children ages 5 to 7 years, those with and those without a pre-existing snoring condition. The students were separated into four groups based on the severity of their sleep apnea.
They underwent sleep assessment questionnaires, an overnight sleep study and a measurement of their cognitive functions. Scientist found that even snoring has a detrimental effect on a child’s memory and language and his ability to understand and pay attention. Sleep apnea in children increases the chance of developing these cognitive defects.
How to Prevent Sleep Apnea in Children
The results of the study were presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference where Leila Gozal, MD, MSc, from the University of Chicago, states, “Our findings provide further justification for exploration and development of simple cognitive batteries that can be coupled to the current clinical evaluation of children with habitual snoring such as to better guide the management of the decision-making process.”
If you are a parent worried that your child is at risk for sleep apnea, here are some common symptoms you can look for:
- Enlarged tonsils or adenoids.
- Snoring, pauses in breathing, snorts, or gasping.
- Trouble sleeping.
- Daytime sleepiness.
- Behavioral problems.
- Learning difficulties.
The study shows that sleep apnea in children can lead to cognitive difficulties, which slow the progress of your child’s development. An ENT physician specializes in helping patients with sleep apnea symptoms. Consider having your child evaluated by a local ENT physician, so that the state of their well-being is less of a concern in the back of your mind.
Children with a High IQ and Behavioral Problems May Suffer from Sleep Apnea
02 years ago
A new study recently published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology recommends that parents look into whether or not their children are displaying systems consistent with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Those symptoms may be the cause of behavioral problems in children. Even if your child has a high IQ, you may still want to examine how well he or she is sleeping.
Research into Behavioral Problems in Children
In the initial study, the researchers examined 147 children, ages 3 to 12, who were scheduled for adenotonsillectomy, a procedure that removes both the tonsils and the adenoids. This procedure is common for those who suffer from OSA, as the condition tends to enlarge the tonsils and adenoids. This stops children from breathing, often several times during the night.
A previous study found that after receiving an adenotonsillectomy, behavioral problems in children—who were struggling in school or at home—decreased. The difference between this study and others is the fact that it focused on children who were doing well from the start.
Regardless of whether or not the children were from low- or high-IQ groups, researchers saw that the children improved at a similar level when their sleep and behavior were evaluated six months after the adenotonsillectomy procedure.
What Behavioral Problems Should You Look into?
The data from these studies is great news for parents with struggling children. They can nail down whether or not their child may have OSA.
Hyperactivity is a prevalent symptom. According to Seockhoon Chung, M.D., Ph.D., and Associate Professor at Asan Medical Center in South Korea, “Children with obstructive sleep apnea are fidgeting and not able to stay on task, because they’re doing anything they can to stay awake.”
This problem is harder to determine in children with a high IQ, because hyperactivity is less apparent. Dr. Chung suggests that, “Even when those behavioral problems are minimal, improvement is still possible.”
Parents may also want to monitor whether or not their children are snoring loudly, or if their breathing is sporadic throughout the night. Children with a high IQ will still benefit from having their OSA treated; improving both their behavior during the day and their brain activity.
Sleep Disorders and Childhood Obesity
03 years ago
by EIC Social Media Team
in Sleep
Sleep Disorders and Childhood Obesity: Is Lack of Sleep Making Your Child Fat?
Obesity is a major concern in the United States today, and it doesn’t only affect adults. According to the CDC, nearly one third of American children are considered overweight or obese. But, how harmful is it really for your child to be overweight, and, how can you help them to get their weight under control? An even more important question is whether sleep disorders and childhood obesity are linked.
The health risks of obesity are well documented. Conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, social and psychological problems, and more, have been connected to being overweight. So, helping your child to control his or her weight involves much more than helping them to avoid the social stigma of being a bigger kid at school. Their health and well-being throughout their entire lives could be affected.
Consider a cause of childhood obesity that you may not have previously thought of—lack of sleep. Recent studies have revealed that those who sleep less (regardless of age or gender), seem to have a slower metabolism. The result is a direct correlation between sleep and weight. Less sleep equals more weight, while more sleep equals less weight.
So, what keeps children awake? Decades ago, kids would beg their parents for a little more TV time before bed. Later, it was video games. Next, it was the Internet. Now, it is often a combination of the three. One major issue is that most children have electronic devices in their room. Bedtime doesn’t necessarily mean sleep time, as children may stay up late (even though they are in bed), using their mobile devices and hand held video games.
What can you do to help?
If your children have mobile devices, teach them to not use these in bed. Perhaps you can have a place in the living room where they must charge their devices at night. This way, not only are the devices not being used, the sounds or vibrations from texts and emails received during the night will not interrupt their sleep. The CDC study alluded to earlier, indicated that kids with earlier bedtimes were also thinner. Thus, although sleep disorders and childhood obesity are linked, they don’t have to be. You may not be the most popular parent in school for urging implementing of these suggestions, at least among the kids, but it might help improve the health of everyone’s child.
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This is a topic that is close to my heart... Best wishes!
Where are your contact details though?
4 years ago