A study to examine the relationship between sleep habits of children and their caregivers knowledge of sleep health found that caregivers who don’t understand the importance of sleep do not enforce good sleep hygiene.
The study found that 76% of respondents underestimated the amount of sleep their child needed, but only 8% responded that their child was not getting enough sleep. The researchers believe that this lack of knowledge can negatively impact the health of children and parents and caregivers should be educated on sleep health.
Among the other data that they collected, they found that 42% of children did not have a consistent bed time, 43% went to sleep later than 9pm, 76% had a television in their room, and 69% frequently fell asleep with an adult present. More than half of parents believed that poor sleep contributed to being underweight, and thought that snoring meant quality sleep.
Enforcing bed times, getting adequate sleep, and staying away from electronics at night are all habits recommended by professionals and doctors. Poor sleep can contribute to obesity and snoring is not necessarily unhealthy, but it can be a sign of sleep apnea and can disrupt sleep, at the very least.
Children do not know any better and their sleep hygiene is related to their parents knowledge. The researchers suggest that more education is needed for all ages regarding sleep health and it’s benefits and dangers.
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