Disturbed sleep in school children negatively affects their schoolperformance and various neurocognitive abilities, according to anarticle recently published in the Journal of School Health. This reviewof 21 studies found that some causes of disturbed sleep are reversibleand that affected students can achieve better academic performanceafter intervention. "In many cases, when disordered breathing at nightis the cause, intervention may not only improve sleep, but improveacademic performance as well," lead author Howard Taras, MD explains.Poor sleep should be considered as one potentially contributing factorwhen there is poor student performance. "These children and theirfamilies should be asked about regularity and duration of sleep,bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, night-wakings, sleep-disorderedbreathing, and increased day-time sleepiness," the authors state.Studies have yet to determine whether there are academic benefits of alater start to the school day.
Most children need at least nine hours of sleep a night, but oftenget inadequate amounts with poor consequences. And while some sleepdisorders can be fixed with medical treatment, sleep patterns raiseimportant issues for educators. As children move into adolescence, theytend to get less sleep per day. Overall, the researchers found thatdisturbed sleep was more common than many thought.
This study is published in the recent issue of the Journal of School Health.
Journal of School Health is published ten times a year on behalf ofthe American School Health Association. It addresses practice, theory,and research related to the health and well-being of school-aged youth.
Howard Taras, MD is a professor at the University of California, SanDiego's Division of Community Pediatrics. He is immediate pastchairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on SchoolHeath.
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