Anita Joshi is a board certified pediatrician and mother of two has been practicing in Crawfordsville since 1998. Crawfordsville Pediatric Center is located at 1901 Lafayette Ave. Suite 100, Crawfordsville. She can be reached at 765-361-3086.
With all the activities and distractions children have these days and all the advice parents get on raising healthy children, sometimes simplicity is best. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is encourage your child to get enough sleep. Today, I am concentrating on preadolescents and adolescents due to the amount of research that has shown serious health effects from lack of sleep.
Teens need more sleep not less. The teenage brain requires 8-10 hours of sleep to rejuvenate and heal their bodies and minds. Society is not making it easier. As the adolescent’s brain shifts their sleep wake cycles by two hours our schools continue to bring older students in earlier and earlier. The AAP of pediatrics advocates for high schools to begin their school day no earlier than 8:30 a.m., and later if possible. There are resources to help parents advocate for these changes at the AAP website.
This generation is the most sleep deprived we have seen. It also has the highest rates of anxiety and depression and these things are not unrelated. It is only during sleep that the body and the mind get a chance to heal and rejuvenate. Lack of sleep affects learning, development and alters judgement. A study by Dr. Matthew Weaver of Harvard Medical School, showed teens who sleep less than six hours on a school night were more than three times as likely to consider, plan or attempt suicide compared to students sleeping eight or more hours.
The good news is this is something we can fix. I know, I have a teenager too and Netflix is addictive. We need to help teens by setting a good example and by enforcing a policy of no electronics at bedtime. Set up a central charging area for everyone’s devices to encourage everyone in the family to wind down without screens. Take a moment to have some herbal tea, (chamomile is one of the best), take warm bath, read or just breath deeply and relax. If your child struggles with issues of anxiety or sleep difficulties contact your pediatrician.
