In the 12 days leading up to our holiday hiatus, we are looking back on the past year and sharing some highlights in Massachusetts General Hospital research news from each month of 2017.

March 2017:

Children’s Sleep Habits Could Improve Their Ability to Focus, Make Friends and Solve Problems Later on in Childhood: Five Things to Know

A recent study by the MassGeneral Hospital for Children found that children ages 3 to 7 who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and relationship building later on in childhood. Here are five things to know about the study…

1. The recommended amount of sleep for children is 11 hours or more at ages 3 to 4 year; and 10 hours or more at ages 5 to 7 years.
2. A recent study from MassGeneral Hospital for Children reports that children ages 3 to 7 who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and peer relationships in mid-childhood (ages 7-10). The study found significant differences in the surveys responses of parents and teachers depending on how much sleep the 7-year-old children regularly received at younger ages.
3. Analyzed data came from Project Viva, a long-term study that looks at the health impacts of several factors during pregnancy and after birth.  Information was gathered from mothers via interviews and questionnaires conducted at varying time points between when children were ages 6 months and 7 years old. Mothers and teachers were also sent surveys evaluating factors such as emotional symptoms and problems with conduct or peer relationships, when children were around 7.
4. Among the 1,046 children enrolled in the study, those living in homes with lower household incomes and whose mothers had lower education levels were more likely to sleep less than nine hours at ages 5 to 7. Other factors associated with insufficient sleep include more television viewing and a higher body mass index. Sleep deficiencies also tend to be more prevalent in African American children. Sleep levels during infancy often predict levels at later ages, supporting the importance of promoting a good quantity and quality of sleep from the youngest ages.
5. “Our previous studies have examined the role of insufficient sleep on chronic health problems – including obesity– in both mothers and children,” explains Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, chief of General Pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, who led the study.  “The results of this new study indicate that one way in which poor sleep may lead to these chronic disease outcomes is by its effects on inhibition, impulsivity and other behaviors that may lead to excess consumption of high-calorie foods. It will be important to study the longer-term effects of poor sleep on health and development as children enter adolescence.”