5 Fascinating Ways on How Children Can Actually Benefit from Sleep –
Sleep is a very important part of a child’s life. It is vital in the physical and mental health of a child because it allows the mind and the body to rest and recover.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, every child is slightly different when it comes to the number of sleep that he needs. Insufficient sleep may affect the child’s well-being, health, mood, and growth.
Why do kids need sleep? Here are 5 surprising benefits of sleep for children.
Promotes Growth
Sleep fuels the physical growth of a child. As a child sleep, the body releases human growth hormones. This human growth hormone is released in the brain and into the bloodstream as a child sleep. This release is a part of the repair and restoration function of sleep.
The human growth hormones are not only promoting growth for a child. It also helps in maintaining the healthy body tissues that promote metabolism and enhances physical performance.
Sleep helps produce human growth hormones that are necessary to keep a child growing and going strong.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Sleep helps regulate the ideal weight for height and age of a child. According to Sleep for Kids of the National Sleep Foundation, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 and 14% of adolescents within the age of 12 to 19 are overweight.
The Chronic Insufficient Sleep and Diet Quality: Contributors to Childhood Obesity study showed that insufficient sleep is one of the risk factors for obesity. The duration of sleep, together with diet quality, is necessary to prevent obesity in children.
Sleep helps create leptin in the brain. Once a child ate enough to be satisfied, the fat cells create leptin, the hormone that signals the brain that the body is full. Sleep helps maintain a child’s healthy weight by signaling the brain that it is already full, limiting the intake of food in the body.
Boosts Learning
Sleep can also boost learning in children. As a child sleeps, the brain processes and consolidates memories, helping the child remember important things.
If the child is tired, it is harder for him to remember basic learning such as spelling, calculating, and even information research. During sleep, the brain stores everything that you learn during the process. As a child sleeps, his brain transforms everything that he learned during the day into active knowledge.
Sleep helps boosts a child’s learning ability by consolidating the memory he learns within the day and turning it into active knowledge.
Boosts the Immune System
Sleep is one of the ways on how to build a strong immune system. Sleep boosts the main function of the immune system where the body produces cytokines, the chemicals that fight stress, illness, and infections. Cytokines also reduce inflammation in the child’s body.
Getting enough sleep for children also decreases their risks of acquiring diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and cardiovascular problems.
Having a good night’s sleep helps produce cytokines in the body, helping children stay away from diseases and infections.
Sharpens Attention
Getting enough sleep can sharpen a child’s attention. Children who sleep less than eight hours a night are impulsive, hyperactive, and inattentive.
Sleep helps a child manage his mood and impulses. It helps him focus his attention. The study Impact of Sleep Extension and Restriction on Children’s Emotional Lability and Impulsivity showed that adding 27.36 minutes extra sleep for children every night can significantly improve their alertness and how they manage their moods.
Sleep sharpens a child’s attention, preventing him from being impulsive, hyperactive, and inattentive. It also helps him in managing his moods.
Conclusion
Making sure that your child gets enough sleep that he needs is important. Putting sleep as a priority for your child can make a big difference especially in his growth, attention, and health.