More children lacking sleep
ParticipAction report says a third of kids don’t get enough shut-eye
TORONTO Almost a third of Canadian school-aged kids are sleepdeprived while most are spending too much time staring at screens, suggests an annual report on the state of children’s health.
For the first time, the ParticipAction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth looked at the amount and quality of children’s sleep, and found that many are not getting enough shut-eye.
The problem seems to be too little exercise and too much screen time — a double whammy that means kids “aren’t moving enough to be tired, and they may also be too tired to move,” according to the study.
“Because of screens in their bedroom, because of holding their cellphone under their pillow, because they didn’t move very much in that day and frankly are not fatigued, (kids) get a disrupted night’s sleep,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, lead researcher for the ParticipAction Report Card. “(They) wake up somewhat fatigued, withdraw from physical activity a little bit the next day, slouch around more and then of course are not physically tired the next night. They have another bad night’s sleep, and so on.”
For the fourth year in a row, the report card handed out a D- for overall physical activity, based on findings that only nine per cent of kids aged five to 17 get the recommended minimum of 60 minutes of “heart-pumping activity” a day.
The worst grade was an F for sedentary behaviour, with only 24 per cent of five- to 17-year-olds coming under the recommended daily maximum of two hours of recreational screen time.
Tremblay, also director of an obesity research group at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, says the effects of chronic sleep loss can be devastating, since it is linked to higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. Too little sleep can also cause hyperactivity, obesity and difficulty in problem solving.
The study found 79 per cent of five- to 13-year-olds get the recommended nine to 11 hours of sleep per night while 68 per cent of 14- to 17-year-olds get the suggested eight to 10 hours per night.
For the first time, this year’s report card analyses the whole day, and that provides a clearer picture of healthy activity, says ParticipAction president Elio Antunes. A child who meets their minimum daily exercise goals can still be unhealthy if they also dive into a TV marathon or play video games into the wee hours of the morning, say the researchers.
Because they didn’t move very much in that day and frankly are not fatigued, (kids) get a disrupted night’s sleep.