Sleep affects health and growth, how many hours do children and teenagers have to sleep?

Sleeping well to grow well, but also in a serene way. Why is it so important? What are the consequences of a Bad sleep hygiene? It is talked about during the free webinar entitled «Sleep and health: sleeping well to live better»(May 15th at 6pm), promoted by the Humanitas Foundation for ETS research, with Elisa Morrone, psychotherapist, and Alberto Braghiroli, pneumologistboth experts in Humanitas sleep medicine and Humanitas Medical Care centers. It is an important appointment, dedicated to everyone, even to the youngest, to learn strategies to improve rest and prevent any ailments.

Sleep quality is a theme strictly linked to physical and mental well -being, on which there is often no adequate information. Dr. Morrone is engaged in a population study on the quality of rest in children and young people, in which you can participate By filling out a questionnaire onlinewhich will allow you to create a detailed photograph of the boys’ rest habits, but also to start prevention initiatives.

In the first phase to the participants in the scientific investigation, always promoted by Humanitas Foundation for ETS researchseveral evaluation tools have been subjected: in addition to the form already mentioned, the Sleep Hygiene Index (Shi) to evaluate the habits related to sleep hygiene, the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children, to investigate the presence of sleep disorders in the last six months and a scale to measure the level of health literacy, or the ability of parents to seek health information correctly. « This first part of data collection should be concluded in June, then in the second phase, from September, we would like to involve some schools in the province of Milan, proposing prevention meetings on the importance of sleep », says the psychotherapist.

Because it is important to sleep well

Often the benefits of sleep are a little trivialized or discounted data, but because it is so important to sleep well? «It may seem trivial because we don’t see the effects of sleeping badly immediately. During sleep, however, a whole series of changes and maintenance of our body occur, « says the expert. « For example, Babies and young children need to sleep so much because while they rest they produce growth hormone and create a neural network. This is why, even in this age group, children who sleep badly or who have sleep disorders tend to have cognitive deficits which, fortunately, recover if sleep disorder is diagnosed and obviously treated « . For teenagersInstead, The shirt is associated with better sexual development, but also to better mental healthbecause « sleep helps to recover and better manage emotions and therefore to reduce the risk of depression, anxiety and suicide ».

How much children and adolescent should sleep

The boys today sleep about two hours less than really necessary and this debt is not easily recoverable, why? « There are mechanisms that our body puts in place if we sleep badly or lose a night of sleep, but not when the deprivation tends to be chronic, » confirms the expert. « ORgnuno of us on the basis of age has a need for hours of sleep. Teenagers should sleep between 10 and 12 hours, but they sleep less, because they are busy with different activities, often evening, at the expense of rest». Have younger children also gain this deficit? «Yes, and it is linked so much to the organization of our life. The parent who arrives late at home, of course, wants to spend some time with his own small child and this leads to delay a whole evening of relaxation, preparation for sleep, of rhythm-free watter », continues Morrone. «In addition, parents tend to misunderstand why Small children when they are very tired become hyperactivebut it is their way of manifesting the need to sleep ».

What are the strategies to improve the quality of the sleep of children?

« For children, exposure to natural light in the morning is essentialbut also follow the extension of the days. Even now that at 9 pm it is still day and the little effort to fall asleep, if I associate the light with regular lifestyles, it should sleep better at night and this also means a better quality of life for parents « , recommends. « Then it is essential to avoid the use of devices, which stimulate mental activation». Is television also not recommended? «Smartphones or tablets tend to activate more from a point of view of attention and mental hyperactivity than television, obviously then depends on the program that watches the child. The cartoon could be accepted an hour before going to bed, then around 7pm, to establish a ritual away from these stimuli that disturb sleep ».

What is the right time to go to bed, for children and teenagers who have to get up to the school in the morning?

«For children from 6 to 11 years, the timetable should be 21 – 21.30 In this period that the days stretched, in winter even earlier. Teenagers can go to bed a little later, around 10.30pm – 23but paying attention to when he plays the alarm. With the boys, moreover, you have to manage the afternoon nap, because being deprived of sleep, on the return from school, the first thing they do is to sleep, to recover, but it becomes a vicious circle, because in the evening they struggle to fall asleep more « .