FRIDAY, June 13, (News Locale) - A good night's sleep is the universal remedy for all stressful situations for adults. However a large study has now found that even children are suffering from a lack of sleep and that this may be harming their growth. 

A study by researchers at the University in Philadelphia compared the sleep patterns in young children from Caucasian and Asian countries. The study found that sleep patterns showed wide variations from country to country.

Overall 29,287 parents were quizzed online about the sleeping habits of their children. The sample size of the parents filling out the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire was from 16 countries with 4,505 answering from the US, 3,892 from India, 1,073 from Australia, 1,081 from New Zealand, 997 from Malaysia,  501 from Canada, 1,034 from Philippines, 1,001 from Singapore and 1,049 from Hong Kong, 800 from Britain 896 from Taiwan, 967 from Indonesia, 872 from Japan, 1,036 from Korea and 7,505 from China.

Lead author Dr Jodi Mindell, Ph.D., of St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia said that children from the United States went to bed by 8:52 p.m, but children in Asian countries were being sent to bed by 10 pm or later.

Dr Mindell said that this shorter sleep duration was hurting the kids. Children in Taiwan got just 8.5 hours of sleep at night, while kids in New Zealand slept for 10.5 hours a night. Indian children get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. The study was presented on June 11 at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, in Baltimore called Sleep 2008.

Inadequate sleep affects the carbohydrate metabolism in children and caused impaired glucose tolerance. This in turn affects the secretion of hormones that regulate fat storage. All these factors may work in combination to increase weight in children.

Furthermore the growth hormone that is released by the pituitary gland is secreted during sleep. Lack of sleep means less hormone secretion, which can stunt growth.

Parents must note that the National Sleep Foundation in the US recommends that children, adolescents, pre-teens and teens get the following hours of sleep everyday:

• Preschoolers: 11-13 hours
• Elementary school students: 10-12 hours
• Pre-teens: 9 - 11 hours
• Teens: 8 ½ - 9 hours
 

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