Originally published November 11 2005
Sleep study proves sleep deprivation makes school harder for children
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Gahan Fallone, a clinical psychologist at the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Mo, has found evidence to support the claim that when children don't get enough sleep, it hurts their mental performance in school.
They need enough sleep to do their best work, researchers reported here today.
Healthy children who do not get at least 10 hours sleep every night struggle to stay focused during the day and have greater difficulties with academic performance, said Gahan Fallone, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Mo.
In a three-week study of 74 school children, he and colleagues found a week of restricted sleep was significantly associated with academic difficulties (P<.01) and attention problems (P<.01).
Dr. Fallone said the results have implications for how clinicians understand attention deficits in children.
The restricted sleep schedule required the children in the first or second grades to get only eight hours of sleep per night for about a week.
Children in the third grade or above were limited to 6.5 hours per night.
"It's likely that other kids who are physiologically or psychologically at risk for learning or attention problems could be even more vulnerable to the negative effects of inadequate sleep," said Dr. Fallone.
A more likely explanation is that attention disorders and sleep deprivation overlap in some way, although exactly how is not known.
The sleep deprivation may also be related to stimulant medications used to treat hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders, and may lessen the efficacy of those treatments.
"Our results suggest that getting less sleep at night could work against the therapeutic action of the medication and minimize the benefits at school," he said.
To assess academic performance and attention at school, the participants' teachers were asked to submit ratings at the end of each week during the study.
Because the children had healthy sleep habits prior to the study, their baseline and optimal sleep were similar, Dr. Fallone said.
Dr. Fallone said he advises parents to remove computers and televisions from children's' rooms because these contribute to wakefulness.
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