Why Children Need A Good Night's Rest Every Night

With World Sleep Day coming up on March 17, we highlight the importance of children getting sufficient, good quality sleep; common sleep disorders and ways and means to improve children's nocturnal rest and rejuvenation

- Ramiya Sakthivel, Mini P. & Cynthia John

“Sleep, the main course in life’s feast, and the most nourishing” — William Shakespeare, Macbeth

In the new era of disruptive technologies with futuristic digital gadgets offering a mind-boggling range of entertainment options, social media, games and apps, combined with fast-pace lifestyles, sleep deprivation is emerging as a major health hazard.

Driven by technology obsession and FOMO (fear of missing out), parents and children are pushing themselves to juggle packed daily schedules with entertainment options, with the result that sleep disorder has become a new 21st-century lifestyle epidemic. In particular, sleep deprivation among children and adolescents is attracting incremental attention. Parents, teachers, counsellors and health experts are reporting a sharp rise in cases of sleep deprivation among children resulting in sliding exam scores, health and behavioural maladies.

According to a 2020 study of the paediatric outpatient department of the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, 34 percent of 450 sample respondent children surveyed, reported sleep disturbance and 10.7 percent had difficulty waking up in mornings. Another more recent study (2022) published in the Indian Journal of Sleep Medicine says that an alarming 88 percent of children aged 5-15 years assessed, had sleep disorders such as parasomnia and day-time drowsiness. Sleep science experts warn parents against assuming that sleep problems in childhood will melt away as children transition into adulthood. A study published in the journal Paediatrics (February 2022) found that teenagers with insomnia are five and a half times more likely to experience it in adulthood.