Conversation with Children

Children are sleeping less than experts recommend and many parents are not happy about it, according to a 2004 survey of American households by the National Sleep Foundation. The foundation, an independent organization that supports sleep education, announced that its annual survey found that children, from newborns to fifth-graders, are getting one to two hours less sleep every 24 hours than is recommended. The survey found that infants, age 3 to 11 months, were getting about 12.7 hours of sleep daily, while experts suggest 14 to 15 hours.

For toddlers, age 12 to 35 months, the poll found that the average child slept 11.7 hours, while 12 to 14 hours is the recommended amount of daily sleep. Daily sleep averaged about 10.4 hours for preschoolers and 6-year-olds in kindergarten, the survey found. Experts recommend 11 to 13 hours of sleep for this age group. Children in the first through fifth grades average about 9.5 hours of sleep daily, the survey found. Experts say the appropriate amount of sleep for this group is 10 to 11 hours. “Our new poll finds that many children are not sleeping enough and many experience sleep problems,” Richard L. Gelula, the foundation chief executive officer, said in a statement. “What is troublesome is that the problems start in infancy.”

About 69 percent of the children in the households surveyed were said to experience sleep problems a few nights a week. Common problems included difficulty falling asleep, sleepwalking, snoring, resisting going to bed and breathing difficulties. The poll found that about 75 percent of those polled would change something about their children’s sleep habits if they could. The poll also found that the parents or caregivers of children are also getting less than the ideal amount of sleep.

Among those polled, the average for parents and caregivers was 6.8 hours per night, slightly less than the seven hours that the foundation found in a 2002 poll of adults. Most parents said they need eight to nine hours of sleep a night.

Parents and caregivers in households where children got the least amount of sleep were about twice as likely to sleep less than six hours a night themselves, the poll found. About 30 percent of this adult group also reported insomnia a few nights a week, and half of those polled said their sleep problems increased after children came into the household.

Folks, sleep is essential, and there are reasons for children not getting enough of it based on the symptoms listed above. When a child receives a healthy diet and adequate amounts of fresh air and water, sleep disturbances are much less apt to happen! Please read more about sleep and the importance of it!

In health,

Thomas Von Ohlen MS, NC

Thomas Von Ohlen MS, NC, is a clinical nutritionist and co-author of the book, “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health.” He is also the developer of Plasma Pro software, a blood test analysis program for doctors. His FREE newsletter is available at http://www.healyourbodynow.com

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A 2004 study shows insecticides may adversely affect the size of babies born in upper Manhattan, but new restrictions on the substances have coincided with a rebound in baby sizes in the area. Mothers with the highest amounts of chlorpyrifos and diazinon in their umbilical-cord blood gave birth to babies an average half pound lighter and one-third of an inch shorter than those born to mothers with no discernible level of the substances, the study by researchers from Columbia University found.

But sizes of newborns appeared to rebound as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gradually imposed a ban on indoor use of the two pesticides - once widely used by exterminators - between 2000 and 2002, the study found. The substances are still allowed on farms. The study found one-third of babies were born to high-exposure women between 1998 and 2000, but only one in 77 were in that group between 2001 and 2002. The decrease in exposure coincided with a rise in babies’ sizes, said Dr. Robin Whyatt, lead author of the study and a professor at Columbia. The study included 314 babies born in Harlem and Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan. It was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Birth weight may affect children’s later physical and mental health, researchers said. 15 years ago there were approximately 3,500 pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides on the market…two-thirds of which are suspected to cause cancer.

Today there are nearly DOUBLE that number of chemicals on the market, many of which are being sprayed directly on commercial food crops! These chemicals don’t just affect infants physical and mental health. TIP: BUY ORGANIC FOOD!

In health,

Thomas Von Ohlen. MS, NC

Thomas Von Ohlen MS, NC, is a clinical nutritionist and co-author of the book, “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health.” He is also the developer of Plasma Pro software, a blood test analysis program for doctors. His free weekly newsletter is available at his website www.HealYourBodyNow.com

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