AllerGen CHILD Study researchers have found that infants who regularly sleep less than 12 hours total in a 24-hour period have poorer cognitive and language skills by two years of age compared to infants who sleep more.
“Short sleep duration and symptoms of Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) ranging from snoring to sleep apnea have been associated with multiple health, learning and behavioural problems in children,” says Dr. Piush Mandhane, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and leader of the CHILD Study’s Edmonton site. “We were interested to find out if limited sleep time and sleep disruption affected cognitive and language development in preschool children. Our study found that short nighttime sleep was associated with a significant decrease in cognitive development using a standardized test of mental and motor development."
In a second study, Dr. Mandhane and the team of CHILD researchers identified four distinct types of SDB that occur in infants, along with unique risk factors associated with each.
Both studies were published in the August 2018 issue of Sleep Medicine.
For the complete story, check out the official press release here.