It’s no secret that adults aren’t getting enough sleep, and that’s a problem since more research is confirming that poor sleep can have lasting effects on health, including things like obesity and heart disease.
And the same is true for children. While kids with bed times have an easier time of getting enough sleep than adults, the intrusion of smartphones and tablets and social media, not to mention growing pressures at school, are also keeping kids up at night.
To help parents know how much sleep is enough, a group of 13 sleep experts convened by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine have issued sleep recommendations that have been endorsed by a number of health groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Based on what they found in 864 studies that tracked children’s sleep and their health outcomes, they found that children sleeping the recommended amounts below on a regular basis enjoyed fewer attention, behavior and learning problems as well as lower rates of obesity, hypertension and depression. But there was a limit to the benefit; too much sleep was associated with higher rates of diabetes, obesity and mental health issues.
Here’s how much sleep they recommend for children at different ages:
Babies, 4 to 12 months: 12 to 16 hours
Children, 1 to 2 years: 11 to 14 hours
Children, 3 to 5 years: 10 to 13 hours
Children, 6 to 12 years: 9 to 12 hours
Teens: 8 to 10 hours
- How the Biden Administration Lost Its Way
- Hanya Yanagihara Is Never Going to Read Your Mean Tweets
- Inside Finland's Plan to End All Waste by 2050
- Chloe Kim Is Ready to Win Olympic Gold Again—On Her Own Terms
- Asia Has Kept COVID-19 at Bay for 2 Years. Omicron Could Change That
- Investors Are Sinking Real Money Into Virtual Real Estate, With No Guarantees
- The Man Putin Fears
