Young children take an extra three minutes to fall asleep for every hour of the day that was spent physically inactive, New Zealand researchers said on Thursday.
University of Auckland specialists investigated sleep patterns among 519 seven-year-olds, monitoring them with a gadget attached to their waist that can tell from a child's movements whether it is asleep, awake but inactive, or active.
Epworth Sleepiness Scale
Measure your daytime sleepiness using this simple interactive tool, based on Epworth Sleepiness disorder Scale. Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is a type of hypersomnia characterized by persistent sleepiness and lack of energy.
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After hitting the sack, the children fell asleep 26 minutes later on average, in a range of 13 to 42 minutes, and slept for an average of 10.1 hours.
Those who had been inactive during the day took longer to nod off. Every sedentary hour during daytime added 3.1 minutes to the time it took to fall asleep.
![Lazy Children may Face Chronic Health Problems]( "Lazy Children may Face Chronic Health Problems")
Children who are lazy and inactive may later face chronic health problems, says a study that advices parents of such children to take steps before it is too late.
The study, published in a specialist British journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood, also found that children who fall asleep faster also sleep for longer.
The findings are important because children who sleep badly or for short periods are likelier to do poorly at school or become obese.
Going to bed after 9:00 p.m., and the amount of television a child watched, did not make a difference to the time it took to fall asleep.
The researchers say the results provide statistical backing to what many parents already know instinctively -- that tiring a child out before he or she goes to bed will help it to sleep.
"These findings emphasise the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health and weight control, but also for promoting good sleep," they say.
Source: AFP
LIN
Lazy Children may Face Chronic Health Problems
Children who are lazy and inactive may later face chronic health problems, says a study that advices parents of such children to take steps before it is too late.
Advertisement
The study, published in a specialist British journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood, also found that children who fall asleep faster also sleep for longer.
The findings are important because children who sleep badly or for short periods are likelier to do poorly at school or become obese.
Going to bed after 9:00 p.m., and the amount of television a child watched, did not make a difference to the time it took to fall asleep.
The researchers say the results provide statistical backing to what many parents already know instinctively -- that tiring a child out before he or she goes to bed will help it to sleep.
"These findings emphasise the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health and weight control, but also for promoting good sleep," they say.
Source: AFP
LIN
Extreme Sleep Patterns Linked To Obesity
Sleeping too little, or too much, can lead to weight gain in adults, according to a new study. Researchers at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, have suggested that the optimal
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