Short sleepers had more psychological problems, such as depression, anxiety and impulsive behaviour. Sleep deprivation was also associated with poorer memory and problem-solving abilities and impaired decision-making, write the researchers, whose study was published in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
At least nine hours of sleep
Children aged 6 to 12 should sleep for nine to twelve hours. Little research has yet been conducted into the long-term consequences of not getting those nine hours. The scientists therefore collected data from 8,300 American children aged 9 or 10 who took part in the so-called ABCD study (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development). They analysed MRI scans, medical records and surveys completed by parents and children at the start of the study and during the follow-up examination two years later.
Long-term brain damage
The findings were remarkable. “We discovered that the children who slept less than nine hours per night had less grey matter in their brains. They also had smaller volumes in brain regions responsible for concentration, memory and inhibition compared with the brains of children who did get enough sleep,” said researcher Ze Wang, professor of diagnostic radiology at UMSOM. “These differences were still present two years later. That is concerning because it appears that long-term damage occurs in children who do not get enough sleep.”
This is one of the first studies to demonstrate the possible long-term effects of sleep deprivation on children’s brain development. The study may therefore reinforce current sleep recommendations, according to researcher Wang.
Make time for sleep
The follow-up study showed that the children who slept enough gradually began sleeping less during the following two years. That is normal: as children grow older, they need less sleep. However, the group that had already been sleeping too little continued to sleep for the same amount of time. In other words, their sleep deficit did not become smaller. The researchers adjusted for factors such as socioeconomic status, sex, puberty and other matters that can affect the amount of sleep.
“We tried to make the two groups as comparable as possible in order to determine the long-term consequences of sleep deprivation in children. However, additional research is needed to confirm our findings and to determine whether the damage is reversible if children get enough sleep after an intervention,” Wang explains.
Nevertheless, the study is already being praised. “This is a crucial study that clearly demonstrates the importance of long-term research into the brains of growing children,” concludes scientist E. Albert Reece. “The importance of sufficient sleep is sometimes overlooked on busy days filled with homework, hobbies and playdates. Now we can see how harmful that can be to a child’s development.”
Sleep tips
Studies have long pointed to smartphones as the main culprit behind sleep deprivation in children. For example, the RIVM demonstrated back in 2019 that minors lose up to forty minutes of sleep because they use their mobile phones in the evening before going to bed. As a result, they fall asleep later. More than one in five 8- to 13-year-olds looks at a screen every evening. Among 13- to 18-year-olds, the figure is as high as 83 per cent, and for more than two hours.
If you think your children are not getting enough sleep, first make sure that they go to bed on time, because the earlier they sleep, the greater the chance that they will get enough hours of sleep. And secondly: ban the mobile phone from the bedroom. The advice is to stop using a smartphone from one hour before bedtime. This applies to adults too, by the way.
Source: scientias.nl