We all know the feeling of a bad night’s sleep, but how many of us think about the potential long-term effects of poor sleep in our kids?
Paediatric sleep medicine remains a relatively new and under-recognised medical speciality, but there is increasing evidence of the detrimental effects on health in children with sleep disruption.
Sleep Specialist, Associate Professor Jasneek Chawla from UQ’s Child Health Research Centre said it’s important to recognise sleep as one of the three pillars of good health alongside fitness and nutrition.
“Poor sleep in childhood can adversely impact day-to-day functioning, learning and behaviour and is associated with chronic health problems including negative effects on growth, cardiovascular health and metabolic dysfunction,” Dr Chawla said.
“However, these effects also extend to caregivers, who often have their own sleep impacted which can lead to physical and mental health consequences for the entire family."
This impact is even more apparent when considering children with underlying medical conditions, in whom sleep disruption can often be overlooked by the focus on other healthcare needs.
Dr Chawla said over 80 per cent of children with a neurodisability experience sleep problem.
“Despite families seeking help for these difficulties, many remain untreated due to a perception that disrupted sleep is ‘part of caring for a child with disability’,” Dr Chawla said.
“In fact, treatment is even more important for these children as it may help to prevent additional impacts on function during a critical period of their development.”
Working with families of children with disability, the Kids Sleep Research team at UQ led one of the largest studies to date to evaluate sleep in children with neurodisability.
The research team surveyed 300 caregivers of children across Australia with broad neurodisability conditions.
This group provided a voice for families, who describe the debilitating impact of sleep disruption in their child with disability and urge all to make sleep health a priority.
One parent said:
“We have not had more than 4hrs of continuous sleep for 6yrs – this is impacting our whole lives”
Others described the impact on their child:
“The tiredness promotes extreme anger outbursts often during the day”
And on their own safety:
“We were walking into walls and pretty much unable to even drive a car because of the risk of car accidents- it’s not right for parents to be left in this state”
Dr Chawla said while these quotes refer to the experiences of caregivers of children with neurodisability, the same applies whenever a child has poor sleep.
“In Australia, 30 per cent of parents report infant sleep problems and more than a third of school age children may encounter sleep difficulties,” Dr Chawla said.
“There is now convincing evidence that poor sleep has profound negative impacts during childhood.
“Children with insufficient sleep are reported to have more mental health and behavioural challenges than those who get sufficient sleep.
“Studies have shown that pre-school with sleep breathing disorders have poorer cognitive functioning and academic performance at school age, relative to their community peers.
“Whilst World Sleep Day offers the opportunity to shine a light on the importance of sleep for all, by providing insights into the increasingly recognised negative impact of sleep disruption early in life, we advocate for sleep to be a national priority to ensure the wellbeing of Australia children."
So, what is needed to prevent these negative effects?
Simple sleep tips can be key to ensuring long-term wellbeing for children.
Sleep Health needs to be integrated into a healthy lifestyle from early childhood.
- Parents require support and education around the importance of sleep for their child, advice on how much sleep is required at different ages and on how to instil regular sleep routines with the optimal environment to promote good quality sleep.
- Healthcare providers need to view consultations as an opportunity to inquire about sleep and consider the potential impact on presenting complaints.
- Parents should be encouraged to seek help when concerns regarding their child’s sleep arise and greater awareness is required to ensure health professionals are responsive and sensitive to these requests for help and supported to ensure timely referral to specialists when appropriate.
