A new study suggests that children who have irregular bedtime are more likely to show more behavioral problems at home and school.
Yvonne Kelly, lead author of the study from the University College London, and her colleagues studied the data of 10,000 children, with age between three and seven, who were also participants of another study conducted between 2000 and 2002 with parents. Their parents answered surveys on sleep and behavioral problems.
Regardless of the age, irregular bedtime has a direct effect on the way the body and brain functions. Irregular sleep disrupts a person’s body clock and causes more stress which may result to irritability and other negative behavior during the day. There were earlier studies associating irregular bedtime to poor intelligence as well.
Based on the responses of the parents, about 20 percent of the three-year-old children have irregular bedtime routines. The percentage drops though when they turn five and seven to nine and eight percent respectively.
Children were also scored based on their behaviors between 0 and 40; the higher score shows more problems. Children with irregular bedtime have lower scores and displays negative behaviors such as being sad, involving in fights and being insensitive. Both parents and teachers were involved in the scoring process.
Those with irregular bedtime scored 8.5 while those who consistently sleep before 9 p.m. scored 6.6 on average.
The researchers reported though that when children with irregular bedtime routines were taught to sleep on time consistently, they showed behavioral improvement and lower scores in the behavioral assessment.
"I think that parents need to make sleep a priority, and they need to realize that it has huge ramifications not only that evening, but the next day, the next week, the next year," Kelly told Reuters Health.
The study was published in the Oct. 11 issue of the online journal Pediatrics.
