Science Daily recently reported in this article
that certain sleep disorders are linked to behavior issues in kids. The
study showed that children with sleep disordered breathing such as
snoring or sleep apnea and who were also overweight, did not sleep
enough, or had another sleep problem such as insomnia, were more likely
to have behavior issues.
More than half of the participants with sleep disordered breathing
who were studied were either overweight or at risk for being overweight
(see this post about the link between sleep and obesity).
In addition 36% were identified as “short sleepers” and almost half
had another sleep problem diagnosed in addition to the snoring or sleep
apnea. “Forty-seven percent had a history of behavioral problems
and 23 percent had a reported diagnosis of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).” Researchers were surprised that
the strongest predictor of behavior problems was not the severity of
the sleep apnea or snoring, but the presence of another sleep problem
such as insomnia.
Of course, I notice my eldest son’s behavior plummet when he stops
getting enough sleep. Just last week he accidentally napped and it
resulted in he not falling asleep until 9:45 p.m. and waking at 6:50
p.m. the next day (he usually sleeps about 12 hours). That led to yet
another nap and another late night and it snowballed into 2 mornings of
one hour tantrums (ugh). Pitiful to watch and it breaks your heart when
you know the reason, but can’t do anything much about it. What we ended
up doing was skipping rest time on Saturday, so there was no nap and he
was able to go to bed at a very good 7 p.m. and he slept until 7:15 or
so the next day and we had our happy boy back. So, even though he
doesn’t have sleep apnea (that I know of, but he does snore a little), I
did not need a study to tell me that less sleep = behavior problems.
But, I thought this was an interesting study to share. I am sure
there are plenty of parents who feel they are doing all the right
things and putting their child to bed early, and although it appears
(s)he may be getting enough sleep, if their child has more going on than
meets the eye, the parent may not understand the poor behavior.
As my son grows and starts school, I can see how sensitive he is to
missed sleep and how critical it will be that he get enough.
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