A new health management service that visualizes sleep
A new health management service that visualizes sleep
We also conducted a survey on the recommended sleep time for children by age group *1 and their actual sleep time. The recommended sleep time is 10 to 13 hours for children aged 3 to 5, and 9 to 11 hours for children aged 6 to 9.
It has been found that the actual amount of sleep that Japanese children get falls short of the recommended amount at most ages.
*1 Refer to National Sleep Foundation 2015. Calculations in the figure are based on average values.
*2 Calculations were made excluding those who did not provide an appropriate answer regarding sleep time.
The results of this survey suggest that parents in Japan do not have accurate information about their children's sleep. We will continue to promote awareness activities by proactively disseminating information about the importance of ensuring children get enough sleep, using Brain Sleep as an opportunity for parents to obtain accurate information about their children's sleep.
Parental sleep debt and child sleep debt
This survey once again demonstrated that parents' influence may be strongly related to children's sleep duration. It was found that children with parents who had sleep debt were significantly more likely to have sleep debt.
As working styles become more diverse and changeable, differences in sleep time between weekdays and weekends are becoming more common. This suggests that whether parents are able to maintain a consistent daily rhythm is more important for their children's sleep.
Survey results
Does parental sleep debt *3 affect children's sleep debt?
*3 The lack of sleep that accumulates little by little each day. It is also called a “sleep debt.”
The relationship between poor health and sleep habits in children
When examining the relationship between the frequency of children's poor health and their sleep habit scores *4 , the results showed that the more frequently they were ill, the significantly higher their sleep habit scores (the higher the score, the more disrupted their sleep habits).
The importance of sleep in maintaining health is widely known, not just for children, but the results of this study strongly suggest that sleep and health are closely related.
It is possible that poor health and poor sleeping habits are causing a weakened immune system that may be related to COVID-19 infection, which means that in order to promote children's health, we need to be more conscious than ever about sleep.
Survey results
It turns out that all health problems are influenced by sleep habits!
*4 Children's sleep habits scores are based on the CSHQ (Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire) and are calculated by Brain Sleep. The higher the score, the more disrupted the child's sleep habits are. It was found that the more disrupted the sleep habits are, the more frequently symptoms appear in all items evaluated.
The relationship between possible sleep disorders in children and their emotional and behavioral problems *5
Children who tend to exhibit behaviors that suggest obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) or restless legs syndrome (RLS), which are relatively common sleep disorders in children, had significantly higher scores in emotional and behavioral problems than children who did not. It is possible that sleep disorders reduce the quality of sleep in these children, which may result in their behavioral problems.
Survey results
If this is often accompanied by emotional instability or problematic behavior, you may want to suspect a sleep disorder.
*5 Children's emotions and problem behaviors are scored by Brain Sleep based on the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. The higher the score, the more problems there are with the child's emotions and behavior. Significant differences are determined by t-test at p<0.01.
It has been reported that the sleep duration of Japanese people, both adults and children, is the shortest in the world. It has also been reported that if children have problems sleeping at night, they become sleepy during the day, irritable, lose their temper, cannot sit properly in class, cannot understand what the teacher is saying, and experience symptoms similar to those of the so-called "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)". They also lose motivation, feel fatigued, and experience physical symptoms. This large-scale survey found that the sleep duration of Japanese children is more than two hours shorter than the recommended sleep duration for their age, and the more disrupted their sleep habits are, the more likely they are to miss elementary school or kindergarten, catch a cold, and suffer from physical symptoms such as headaches. In addition, there was a clear tendency for children to not get enough sleep in households where adults do not get enough sleep.
Children are our future treasures. We hope that adults will understand the importance of sleep for children, share the importance of sleep with their families according to their child's developmental stage, and work together as a family on sleep education to protect the mental and physical health of children.