Children who get enough sleep are more likely to flourish in school

New research has found that only 48% of US school children are getting a sufficient amount of sleep each night, and those who do are more likely to show signs of flourishing in school.

Carried out by Dr Hoi See Tsao, a pediatrician affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, the new study surveyed parents and caregivers of 49,050 children age 6 to 17 years old about how many hours of sleep a randomly chosen child in their household slept on an average weeknight.

Sufficient sleep was defined as nine hours or more on an average weeknight.

The researchers also asked the parents and caregivers about five “individual flourishing markers”, which are signs that the child is engaged in and flourishing in school.

These signs include showing interest and curiosity in learning new things, caring about doing well in school, doing required homework, working to finish tasks already started, and staying calm and in control when faced with a challenge.

Picture: iStock

After taking into account potentially influencing factors such as age, time spent in front of a screen, playing video games and other electronic devices and mental health conditions, the findings suggested that only 48% of children in the United States are getting nine hours of sleep most weeknights.

In addition, getting sufficient sleep was positively linked with several individual flourishing markers.

Children who got nine hours or more shut-eye most weeknights were 44% more likely to show interest and curiosity in learning new things, 33% more likely to do their homework, 28% more likely to care about doing well in school, and 14% more likely to finish tasks, compared with children who did not get sufficient sleep.

Previous research has found that the more flourishing markers children have, the more likely they are to exhibit healthy behaviours and fewer risky behaviours.

The researchers also found that not getting enough sleep was linked with children living in poorer families, having mental health conditions, more digital media usage and an increased number of adverse childhood experiences.

Picture: iStock

Dr Tsao says that the findings reinforce the importance of helping children get the recommended amount of sleep for their age, by cutting down digital media usage and promoting a bedtime routine.

“Chronic sleep loss is a serious public health problem among children,” said Dr Tsao.

“Insufficient sleep among adolescents, for example, is associated with physical and mental health consequences including increased risk of depression and obesity and negative effects on mood, attention and academic performance.”

“Interventions like these may help children demonstrate more measures of childhood flourishing, enhance their development and give them brighter futures,” she said.

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