A good night's sleep could make children behave better.
A study from Finland says that a good sleep reduces hyperactivity and bad behaviour among children. 280 children, aged 7 and 8, were examined in the Pediatrics study and those who slept for fewer than eight hours were the most hyperactive.
Chronic sleep deprivation has long been recognised as a problem for many adults in Western countries and it is known to have consequences for their health and daily life.
Not enough is understood about the role of sleep in children's lives but it has been estimated that a third of US children don't get enough sleep.
In the study, the researchers were able to show that short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties are related to behavioural symptoms of ADHD. Even 30 minutes extra sleep per night was shown to give a major improvement
Dr Juulia Paavonen from the Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare said: "It may well be that inadequate sleep is increasing some of the behavioural problems that have been seen in children with attention deficit disorders." She also said that further studies were needed to confirm the link.
Sleep expert Neil Stanley, of the University of East Anglia, said: "It has been acknowledged for a while now that there is a lot of commonality between the symptoms of a tired child and the symptoms of a child with ADHD. How much of what is diagnosed as ADHD is something that can be modified or improved, or even totally cured by a more rigid sleep pattern? Maybe parents should try and get sleep sorted out if the child is still showing symptoms, then that's probably the time to look at pharmacological interventions."
April 2009 | 
'Naughty' Kids Need More Sleep
