Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Children, Sleep, and IQ

Researchers at the University of Virgina have found a correlation between sleep issues in children and their measured IQ.  When the child snores every night, his or her vocabulary (the way they judged IQ) was less when measured against the control group.  Perhaps children are more susceptible to sleep disorders because they need more sleep.  And sleep is the way that they grow their brains and process information.  Children in general need more sleep than adults, so it stands to reason that interruptions to sleep can harm the development of children.

So as parents, we need to pay attention to our kids as they sleep.  Do they snore?  Toss and turn?  Sleep too little?  Do they seem tired when they shouldn't be tired?  All of these and more need a parents attention.  Maybe even a doctors attention if it is prolonged or seemingly unchangeable by mom or dad.

And we need to enforce good sleep hygiene on our kids.  The pre-teen child needs more sleep than adults, so an appropriate bedtime must be set.  Consistent sleep hours as well, going to bed at the same time nightly and waking at the same time every day (even weekends, arrgh).  And that is what we see as an issue.  Talk to retailers at malls, ask them how many little children they see in the halls after 8 PM.  It is appalling.  Strong activity, things like simply spending time on a playground will do two things, wear them out so they sleep better, but also build their bodies and prevent obesity.  A lot of sleep apnea (snoring is the prime indicator of sleep apnea) would go away with good wholesome activity.  TV, computers, and video games are nice, but encourage, or even demand physical activity, it is good for their brain!

We have spent our treasure on things like hooked on phonics, or flashcards, or anything that we think might help them do better than us.  Maybe, just maybe good sleep and physical activity can do the trick easier and more economically.

Sleep Well!

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