Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Consistent Bedtime May Give Kids Developmental Boost

clipart of sleeping child

MONDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Sticking to a regular bedtime and getting enough sleep may help young children score higher on tests of development, a new study suggests.

Kids who had a consistent bedtime at the age of 4 scored higher on a number of tests, including some that measured literacy and math abilities. Earlier bedtimes and parental rules about keeping bedtime routines also were associated with higher scores on developmental measures.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests that preschool children get at least 11 hours of sleep each night. Kids who got less than that had lower test scores, according to study author Erika Gaylor, a researcher with SRI International, a research institute in Menlo Park, Calif., and colleagues.

The study is based on responses from phone interviews with the parents of about 8,000 kids. The parents were interviewed when the children were 9 months old and again when they were 4 years old.

The full article may be viewed by clicking the link in this post's title.

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