Study: Children who sleep less than nine hours fall behind in school
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Ramona Lulla (both of Spain) found that children six to seven years old who sleep less than nine hours late go to bed and do not adhere to the regime, lagging behind in school.
According to scientists, most children sleep less than recommended for proper intellectual development, and this is bad, because lack of sleep can not be compensated.
The study involved 142 primary school students (65 girls and 77 boys) who had no pathological changes associated with sleep. Parents of children filled out questionnaires with questions about their habits and the duration of a night's sleep. Specialists also evaluated several academic skills of children: communicative, methodological, transversal and specific.
Although on average the children slept almost eight hours per night, their regimen left much to be desired: 69% of the subjects returned home after 21:00 at least three times a week or went to bed after 23:00 at least four times a week. The success rate of pupils who slept 8 or 9 hours was worse than those who gave sleep 9 or 11 hours.
Lack of sleep and bad habits have a negative impact on many common skills that play an important role in academic achievement. However, for specific cognitive skills, such as memory, learning and motivation, lack of sleep affects less; they are more dependent on the wrong sleep regimen.
Thus, scientists, night sleep for more than nine hours and observance of the sleep regime have a beneficial effect on academic achievement, as well as on the cognitive development of children.
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