The wonder working power of sleep
Dec 01, 2004
Did you know that sleep is important for the proper functioning of your child’s brain, immune system and wellbeing?
By Grace Canada
Did you know that sleep is important for the proper functioning of your child’s brain, immune system and wellbeing?
And that many children do not get adequate sleep? To verify this, take public transport and you will find children asleep with heavy book packs strapped on their shoulders.
It is not unusual to find a child doing homework until 9:00pm, going to bed at around 10:00pm and waking up at 5:30am to prepare for school. This allows the child about seven hours’ sleep.
This is not sufficient for a child, scientists say. They recommend about 10 hours though there may be exceptions.
Sleep is not a luxury, but a necessity for your child’s body and brain productivity. Adequate sleep is important for the following reasons:
-Sleep rejuvenates and energises the body and brain.
-Growth takes place during sleep.
The secretion of a growth hormone reaches its peak during sleep. A growth hormone is a chemical secreted by the pituitary gland. It stimulates growth development, and the repair of the body’s tissues.
-Nerve connections that hold memory in the brain grow during sleep.
-Adequate sleep facilitates memory storage, retention, organisation, reorganisation, as well as new learning and performance.
Sleep deficit
In contrast, this is what could happen when your child does not get adequate sleep:
-The child may experience a certain degree of temporary loss in energy and alertness usually in the mid-afternoon.
-Mood is one of the first things to be affected by sleep. With even 1-2 hour’s loss of sleep, your child’s threshold for containing anger is lowered. The child can quickly lose temper and create bad feelings between themselves and others including teachers.
-Inadequate sleep even for one night can increase worry, frustration, nervousness and inability to relax under even moderate pressure.
-Immunity to disease and viral infection drops as sleep deprivation increases.
With inadequate sleep, your child may experience reduced ability to:
-Concentrate, and to remember especially short-term memory.
-Handle complex tasks, think logically, assimilate and analyse new information.
Recommendations:
-Establish a regular sleep-wake schedule, seven days a week. Choose a reasonable bedtime that will allow adequate sleep of 9-10 hours.
-Limit caffeine-containing beverages such as tea, coffee, cola drinks, chocolate, and others after 6:00pm.
-Keep the environment quiet. Turn off, or down, the radio and television around 10:00pm and keep the room dark.
Start today. Encourage your child to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Additionally, do not simply complain about how the school is burdening your child with homework. Organise other parents and petition the Ministry of Education to look into the fact that children are overworked. Together, find ways to minimise the strain that today’s frantic society is imposing on your child’s life and well being.
Did you know that sleep is important for the proper functioning of your child’s brain, immune system and wellbeing?
And that many children do not get adequate sleep? To verify this, take public transport and you will find children asleep with heavy book packs strapped on their shoulders.
It is not unusual to find a child doing homework until 9:00pm, going to bed at around 10:00pm and waking up at 5:30am to prepare for school. This allows the child about seven hours’ sleep.
This is not sufficient for a child, scientists say. They recommend about 10 hours though there may be exceptions.
Sleep is not a luxury, but a necessity for your child’s body and brain productivity. Adequate sleep is important for the following reasons:
-Sleep rejuvenates and energises the body and brain.
-Growth takes place during sleep.
The secretion of a growth hormone reaches its peak during sleep. A growth hormone is a chemical secreted by the pituitary gland. It stimulates growth development, and the repair of the body’s tissues.
-Nerve connections that hold memory in the brain grow during sleep.
-Adequate sleep facilitates memory storage, retention, organisation, reorganisation, as well as new learning and performance.
Sleep deficit
In contrast, this is what could happen when your child does not get adequate sleep:
-The child may experience a certain degree of temporary loss in energy and alertness usually in the mid-afternoon.
-Mood is one of the first things to be affected by sleep. With even 1-2 hour’s loss of sleep, your child’s threshold for containing anger is lowered. The child can quickly lose temper and create bad feelings between themselves and others including teachers.
-Inadequate sleep even for one night can increase worry, frustration, nervousness and inability to relax under even moderate pressure.
-Immunity to disease and viral infection drops as sleep deprivation increases.
With inadequate sleep, your child may experience reduced ability to:
-Concentrate, and to remember especially short-term memory.
-Handle complex tasks, think logically, assimilate and analyse new information.
Recommendations:
-Establish a regular sleep-wake schedule, seven days a week. Choose a reasonable bedtime that will allow adequate sleep of 9-10 hours.
-Limit caffeine-containing beverages such as tea, coffee, cola drinks, chocolate, and others after 6:00pm.
-Keep the environment quiet. Turn off, or down, the radio and television around 10:00pm and keep the room dark.
Start today. Encourage your child to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Additionally, do not simply complain about how the school is burdening your child with homework. Organise other parents and petition the Ministry of Education to look into the fact that children are overworked. Together, find ways to minimise the strain that today’s frantic society is imposing on your child’s life and well being.