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 writes 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. “Restful, sufficient sleep is essential for children’s orderly growth and development. Growth hormones are secreted during deep sleep when the body heals and refreshes heart and blood vessels and critical brain development occurs. When children don’t get adequate sleep at night, there’s an increase in blood glucose and cortisol levels which can prompt diabetes, obesity and heart ailments. So when children sleep adequately, they are at a lesser risk of becoming overweight and diabetic. They also experience fewer learning difficulties and attention/concentration issues as children tend to better retain lessons and learning when they sleep well,” says Dr. Ranjini Raghavan, head of the ENT department at Sunrise Hospital, Kochi and a leading sleep surgeon who has conducted the maximum number of ‘sleep surgeries’ in Kerala state. With World Sleep Day coming up on March 17, in the pages following 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. Common sleep disorders Insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, microsleep, and sleep-talking are among the ailments that people, including children, experience. Insomnia. This common sleep disorder makes it difficult for individuals to fall asleep, and remain in slumber for adequate duration. This debilitating condition…
