‘Children must be taught the importance of good sleep’

This year, the theme for the World Sleep Day was: Sleep is Essential for Health. According to the World Sleep Society, the theme aims to create awareness that just like eating well and exercising is necessary for good health, a good night’s sleep is a foundation for one’s physical, mental, and social well-being.

According to news reports on average, one in two Indians are getting less than six hours of uninterrupted sleep each night; one in four are sleeping less than four hours a day. Reports also suggest that India is the second most sleep-deprived country after Japan.

Experts opine that not getting proper sleep at night is linked with many chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression. Therefore, it is important that children, right from childhood, must be taught the importance of good uninterrupted sleep.

Dr Pallavi Bainade, a paediatrician and mother of Ved Kapil a student of Apeejay School, Nerul stresses the need for seven to eight hours of sleep at a stretch; it can even go up to nine hours. “Sleep and heart are interconnected. Sleep deprivation can lead to a lot of health issues, as children get older, like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. A lot of children and adults who don’t get seven to eight hours of sleep at a stretch can end up with health problems. Children, who get at least eight hours of sleep, are agile, mentally alert, their efficiency is high and make better health and food choices,” Dr Bainade said.

Parents must ensure that teenagers don’t use any gadgets for at least four hours before they go to sleep. Engage the children in good physical activity so that they get proper sleep

–Dr Pallavi Bainade, a paediatrician and mother of Ved Kapil a student of Apeejay School, Nerul

A routine where children go to bed at a set time and get adequate sleep starts at home. Here, parents have a big role to play, Dr Bainade opined. “Parents need to inculcate the habit of ensuring that their wards get proper sleep; it has to become a habit from childhood itself,” Dr Bainade stressed.

She said that parents must set a time when the kids must go to bed. “This time must be followed to a T. Once in a while it is okay to deviate but otherwise, children must go to bed by 10:30 pm, without fail, every day so that this becomes a habit,” she advised.

With summers around the corner, increase daylight exposure for your child. “Enroll him/her in a sport or even swimming classes,” She said.

How to inculcate proper sleep habits in teenagers?

She added that while it is easy to form habits in toddlers, it may prove to be a little difficult to correct wrong sleeping habits. “In such a situation, parents must ensure that teenagers don’t use any gadgets at least four hours before they go to sleep. Engage the children in good physical activity so that they get proper sleep. If they keep sitting on the couch the whole day with their gadgets, they are not likely to sleep at a set time,” Dr Bainade said.

Give a proper diet

“Another must-do is to reduce the intake of junk food. Parents must make healthier food choices so that children automatically imbibe the same and understand that this is the norm in their family. Increase the intake of fruits and vegetables in their daily diet. Eat together that is home-cooked; meals must also be eaten at a set time – by 8:30. It may take time for teenagers to get into a routine schedule but they will finally fall into a pattern,” Dr Bainade said in conclusion.