Chronic Sleep Loss is a Serious Public Health Problem Among Children

Pomidor Quixote
Daily Stormer
November 1, 2019

Modernity is really out to get you. This isn’t hyperbole.

Study Finds:

According to research conducted at Brown University, only 48% of school-age children in the U.S. get the recommended nine hours of sleep most weeknights. The study goes on to suggest that children who are able to get enough sleep are much more likely to display a positive outlook towards school, academia, and overall “childhood flourishing,” classified as a measure of behavioral and social well-being.

“Chronic sleep loss is a serious public health problem among children,” says study author Dr. Hoi See Tsao in a release by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  “Insufficient sleep among adolescents, for example, is associated with physical and mental health consequences including increased risk of depression and obesity and negative effects on mood, attention and academic performance.”

Some may dismiss it as a symptom of improper time management, but the reality is that school encourages sleeping disorders by sucking out the energy of kids without fulfilling their drive to do something fun and interesting, which results in kids feeling drained and bored and looking for something — anything — to entertain themselves with.

Then there’s the issue of parents not setting the example and not doing anything to solve the actual time management issues, presumably because they themselves are also in a similar position because of their jobs, being sleep deprived and all.

The researchers analyzed responses given from the parents and caregivers of 49,050 children, collected via the 2016 and 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health. Respondents answered questions regarding how many hours children in their household usually slept on an average weeknight. The study classified “sufficient sleep” as at least nine hours per weeknight.

Caregivers were also asked if their child was curious and interested in learning new things, if they cared about doing well in school, and if they routinely completed their homework. Furthermore, they were asked if their child usually made a habit of finishing tasks they started, and if their child usually stayed calm and in control when they encountered academic challenges.

Overall, only 47.6% of the 6 to 17-year-old children involved in the study were found to be sleeping at least nine hours each weeknight regularly. This group of children were also positively associated with numerous positive “flourishing” markers. In comparison to children who did not usually get nine hours of sleep, those who did had 44% better odds of showing interest and curiosity in learning; 33% better odds of regularly completing their homework; 28% better odds of caring about their schoolwork; and 14% better odds of finishing tasks they start.

As far as why so many children aren’t getting enough sleep, the study’s authors identified various risk factors, including: inadequate parental care, mental health conditions, time spent on digital devices, and adverse childhood experiences.

Dr. Tsao suggests that parents focus on limiting screen time before bed and establishing a set bedtime routine for school nights.

Screens are a real issue. They are the portals into realms designed to get people’s attention. Things like social media and mobile games are addictive by design, and they keep kids engaged even when they’re feeling tired and sleepy.

There’s multiple contributing factors to the problem, but if we want to point at a single thing to represent the whole bunch, that would be modernity.

Kids should be playing and socializing outside.

Instead, they are forced to sit for hours and hours and hours and to listen to mostly useless stuff that fails to spark their interest. Then they are given access to addictive glowing screens as some kind of sick reward.

It is a form of torture and they are suffering its consequences.