Poor sleep habits impact many aspects of children’s health – and a new study has shown why blood pressure is one of them.
Early bedtimes and longer sleep durations are associated with lower mortality rates in children, says a report published this week in the journal Pediatrics. Blood pressure in children,
The researchers analyzed 539 patients with an average age of 14.6 years who slept an average of 9.1 hours per night.
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those children who fell asleep later It was found that daytime blood pressure parameters were worse – while those who slept longer had lower blood pressure.
The results were similar regardless of age, gender, body mass index, and day of the week.
A report published this week in the journal Pediatrics found that going to bed early and sleeping longer lowers blood pressure in children. (iStock)
“The main finding is that lifestyle factors are responsible for hypertension in children, just like in adults,” Dr. Amy Kogan, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital.
“As physicians, we typically advise patients to improve diet and nutrition. physical activity Sleep may be an additional aspect of improving blood pressure, but this study shows that sleep should also be considered.”
“This study suggests that sleep may be an additional (health) aspect that should be considered.”
The researchers were surprised to find that longer sleep duration was associated with a shorter “nocturnal drop,” the expected fall in blood pressure during sleep.
“If a patient’s ambulatory blood pressure study does not demonstrate a nighttime fall, it is considered abnormal,” Kogan said.
A new study has found that children who slept late had worse blood pressure during the day, while those who slept longer had lower blood pressure. (iStock)
“We expected that nighttime sleepiness would decrease with less sleep, and ultimately found that instead, nighttime sleepiness decreased with longer sleep duration.”
The researchers said this was mainly seen in patients who slept for excessive periods of time.
“It’s possible that people who sleep longer don’t sleep as well,” he said.
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“For example, if they have sleep apnea or are bedridden but on his phone Or staying up all night watching TV might explain why there’s a sudden drop in water at night.”
Kogon acknowledged the study had some limitations.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, children ages 6 to 12 should get 9-12 hours of sleep each night — while children ages 13 to 18 need 8-10 hours of sleep. (iStock)
“This was a retrospective review of the data — so there are these correlations,” he told Fox News Digital.
“In addition, we only captured sleep duration by self-reporting data for (a) 24-hour period and believed this to be representative of patient sleep duration in general.”
The researchers studied the quality of sleep or sleep disorders,
Factors affecting children’s blood pressure
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in seven people between the ages of 12 and 19 is affected by high blood pressure.
Like adults, children with high blood pressure are at higher risk. Stroke and heart attackexperts say.
Sleep is one of many risk factors that can impact this key health parameter.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in seven people between the ages of 12 and 19 is affected by high blood pressure. (iStock)
Other influences include obesity, physical fitnessAccording to the American Heart Association, this condition can be caused by diet and environmental stress.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, children ages 6 to 12 should get 9-12 hours of sleep each night, while children ages 13 to 18 need 8-10 hours of sleep.
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Studies have shown that most young people don’t get enough sleep, with 6 out of 10 U.S. middle school students and 7 out of 10 high school students saying they don’t get enough sleep on school nights.
How children can improve their sleep
The biggest barrier to kids’ sleep isn’t what people think, said Michael Gradisar, head of sleep science at Sleep Cycle and a clinical psychologist based in Adelaide, Australia.
“The scientific evidence does not show that screens are the main barrier to good sleep for young people,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“The bottleneck is actually their body clock. Because their body clock is set late, they sleep late and wake up late. Scientists have known this for decades.”
To improve sleep quality, Gradisar recommends using bright light therapy in the morning to correspond with the timing of the person’s own body clock.
6 out of 10 U.S. middle school students and 7 out of 10 high school students say they don’t get enough sleep on school nights. (iStock)
Morning bright light therapy uses bright light to help reset the circadian rhythm and normalize sleep patterns.
“According to the clinical trials we have done, it has shown the best results – including the trials done in Australia,” he said.
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Looking ahead, the researchers plan to determine whether interventions that promote sleep will also improve blood pressure, Kogan said.
“We plan to research this further by obtaining sleep quality data in patients being evaluated for high blood pressure and by obtaining more long-term sleep measurements,” he added.
