Lack of sleep affects our kids' school work
Last updated 13th Oct 2017
Research published today has revealed dangerously low levels of sleep are significantly affecting the academic development of our children.
The findings reveal that, despite the NHS recommendation of ten hours, 36% of primary school age children get eight hours or less sleep a night and a worrying 15% get seven hours or less.
Such low levels of sleep are likely to have a negative impact on a child’s ability to function in the classroom and reach key milestones.
Children who experience inadequate sleep are more likely to have problems paying attention in class, forgetting things and keeping up with school work, and will then end up missing school because they feel unwell.
Poor routine could be to blame, with 83% of children reporting being awake by 6:30am on a weekday despite 5% still being awake at 10pm the night before, and 16 per cent still being awake at 9pm.
The research, carried out by the Silentnight and the University of Leeds, clearly showed that parents knew how much sleep children should be getting but for whatever reason it’s not being made a priority.
It also looked into the amount of sleep parents are getting, to get a clear picture of family life and routine, and found that parents are also getting chronically low levels of sleep showing a clear correlation between poor parental sleep and poor sleep patterns in children.
The research also found technology to be a key contributing factor to lack of sleep amongst children, even from the age of six.
With those who have smartphones or tablets in the bedroom sleep up to an hour less than those who leave their devices out of the bedroom, and the trend increased as they got older, with 11-year-olds losing the most sleep because of tech.
Other factors keeping children awake include worries about bullying and worries about homework.