- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most
American children are not getting enough sleep and television and caffeine
are helping keep many awake at night, the National Sleep Foundation said
on Tuesday.
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- A survey of 1,400 parents showed that many are not aware
of how much sleep their children need and may not realize that TV and caffeine
can affect their child's sleep.
-
- "Parents are paying a price for their children's
poor sleep habits," Jodi Mindell, a director of the foundation and
associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia, told a news conference.
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- "The majority of parents are being awakened at least
one night a week by their children."
-
- At the same time, researchers told a conference at the
National Institutes of Health that Americans need guidelines on how to
get more sleep.
-
- "The depth and breadth of sleep problems is not
fully appreciated in this country," said U.S. Surgeon General Dr.
Richard Carmona. "Chronic sleep loss and untreated sleep disorders
have a profound impact on Americans of all ages -- they affect 70 million
Americans and cost our nation $15 billion in health care expenses."
-
- Dr. Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep
Disorders Research, said the research shows that sleep disorders are common
but people do not yet realize it.
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- "We need to define some better ways to get the message
out to people," Hunt said in an interview. "It's not just a matter
of 'you ought to sleep more' but why they ought to sleep more."
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- DYING TO GET SOME SLEEP
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- Hunt said lack of sleep can be dangerous, just like high
cholesterol or high blood pressure.
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- "We do know that it can kill you," he said.
"A lack of sleep has major implications for accidents -- not only
workplace accidents but highway accidents."
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- The Sleep Foundation said its survey showed 30 percent
of all children aged 1 to 10 wake at least once a night and need attention,
which then affects their parents' sleep.
-
- The poll found 26 percent of children aged 3 or older
drink at least one caffeinated beverage a day, including sodas or iced
tea. Those children slept a half-hour less each night than those who did
not drink caffeine.
-
- The survey also found many children have a television
in their bedroom. Parents said 43 percent of school-aged children had their
own TV sets, as did one third of young children aged 3 to 5 and 20 percent
of infants and toddlers.
-
- According to the poll, children with TV sets went to
sleep 20 minutes later than those without and slept on average 9.2 hours
a night compared to 9.6 hours a night -- "a loss of more than two
hours of sleep a week," the foundation said.
-
- The result can be cranky children who are not learning
as well as they should, the group said.
-
- "Parents need to make sufficient sleep a family
priority," said Mindell, adding that bedtime routines should exclude
TV and include a reading a story.
-
- The poll found that infants aged 3 to 11 months slept
only 12.7 hours a day on average, although they need 14 to 15 hours. Toddlers
aged 1 to 3 slept 11.7 hours but they need 12 to 14.
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- Preschoolers up to 5 slept 10.4 hours a night on average
although they are supposed to get 11 to 13 hours and children up to age
10 slept 9.5 hours although they need 10 or even 11 hours a night.
-
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