How many hours a day children and teenagers need to sleep?

                   

How much sleep children and adolescents need to sleep to have a healthy development? Specialists in sleep disorders created new recommendations on how minors should sleep. They are based on the stage of life where young people meet and have been published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

HOURS OF SLEEP RECOMMENDED BY AGE
4 to 12 months 12 to 16 hours daily
1 to 2 years 11 to 14 hours daily
3 to 5 years: 10 to 13 hours daily
6 to 12: 9 to 12 hours daily
13 to 18: 8 to 10 hours

The new guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) were based on previous studies that examined the relationship between sleep duration and child health, ranging from 16 hours for infants and eight hours for adolescents.

According to the academy, minors benefit physically, mentally and emotionally adequate amounts of sleep. Getting enough sleep results in better attention, behavior, learning and memory, experts say.

In contrast, children who do not get enough sleep are at greater risk of injury, hypertension, obesity and depression. Among adolescents, sleep deficit was associated with greater risk of self-harm and even suicide - the researchers said.

The team behind the new guidelines pointed out, however, that children and adolescents who sleep more than the recommended are also subject to adverse events, including, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and mental health problems.

For children and adolescents who are too little or too much sleeping, the guidance is that parents consult their doctor to determine if it is a sleep disorder that can be treated.

The guidelines do not include recommendations for babies under 4 months because the patterns and sleep duration of such young children vary widely and there is not enough scientific evidence to establish links between sleep and health.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (American Academy of Pediatrics) makes recommendations it believes to be beneficial for good sleep of children and adolescents - among them, that all screens - such as televisions and computers - half an hour to be turned off before going to bed. And parents do not allow their children to keep this type of device in their rooms.