Baby sleeping by Denys Dolnikov | Dreamstime.com
In recent articles I covered the importance of sleep and how partial loss affects overall health in the long run, as well as how chronic stress affects sleep. Even though both these articles were referring primarily to adults, a research study recently published in Pediatrics, showed that children with shortened nighttime sleep may be prone to hyperactivity.
As summarized, Evelyne Touchette, Ph.D., of the University of Montreal, and colleagues administered an annual questionnaire to the mothers of 2,057 children from 1.5 to 5 years of age to elicit information about their children's sleep periods and hyperactivity.
The researchers analyzed the responses to identify associations between sleep and hyperactivity, including what child, maternal, family factors, and parenting practices in early childhood were associated with shortened sleep and hyperactivity. Furthermore, they found a significant association between shortened sleep and hyperactivity. There was a high probability that a hyperactive child would have short nighttime sleep (odds ratio, 5.1), and high probability that a short-duration sleeper would score high for hyperactivity (odds ratio, 4.2).
Risk factors for short nighttime sleep and hyperactivity included having a low household income, being male, having a mother with low education, and being comforted outside their own bed after waking up at night at 1.5 years of age. The authors concluded that "preventive interventions that target boys living in adverse familial conditions could be used to address these concomitant behavioral problems."
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