Children Returning to School Need Their Sleep

It's time to head back to school for students across the country. Many different items will contribute to your child's success at school during the next nine months. These include paying attention in class, attending class regularly and completing assignments on time. One item that many parents and children alike neglect though is the need for a good night's sleep. The Children's Hopstial of Pittsburgh of UPMC issued a recent press release to push this to the forefront of public attention.

The press release indicated that four out of every ten children in the country do not get enough sleep according to sleep guidelines. It also indicated that 2 million children throughout the United States suffer from one of a variety of sleep disorders. Sleep disorders include conditions such as insomnia, snoring, nightmares, and night terrors. One of the conditions that has received more attention in recent years is sleep apnea. The press release indicates the increase in the number of sleep apnea cases in children is due to the increase in childhood obesity.

The amount of sleep needed for a child varies. According to the press release children that are between the ages of six to twelve years old need ten hours of sleep a night. It goes on to state that teenagers need nine hours of sleep each night. With all the demands on a child and parent's time, sometimes this is hard to accomplish.

Dr. Sangeeta Chakravorty, MD, and director of Children's Sleep Program pointed out, "Often, children who aren't getting adequate sleep perform poorly at school or exhibit behavioral issues. Unfortunately, families and educators don't always immediately realize that a lack of sleep may be a major contributor to these problems, so they persist."