Afternoon Sleep Curbs Hyperactivity

Regular afternoon nap can help ease such problems in children as hyperactivity, anxiety and depression. Recent studies provided the evidence for that claim.

The results of a study among 62 children aged 4-5 years old, presented at the annual Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Seattle, pointed that a day regimen with the room for an afternoon nap is a good thing for a child’s psyche.

On the other hand, not sleeping in the afternoon is associated with the psyche disturbances in children like hyperactivity, increased anxiety and depressed feelings. Those were exactly the disturbances found in 23% of kids who didn’t sleep in the afternoon.

It is the fact that children, as they reach the age of 4-6 years old, are reluctant to sleep in the afternoon, preferring staying active for resting. So Brian Crosby, the author of the study, encourages the parents to be more insistent as they urge their kids to sleep in the afternoon.

Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/drh.