We've been talking about the importance of sleep since we launched Just For The Children.
So it's hardly a surprise to read the findings by sleep scientists which state a child's mental health could permanently change -if they don't get the required amount of sleep!
To be clear, the guidelines around sleep when it comes to society's youngest are clear. The American Association of Pediatrics has set its guidelines. And when it comes to adolescents, their research says it is crucial for this age group to get more sleep. And they push for later school start times.
Why is all this so important? A recent study by Ze Wang, associate professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine says he noticed the importance of sleep years ago when he read several papers about the immediate amyloid protein deposition in the brain after a short-term sleep deprivation.
And what exactly is Amyloid? It's the neurotoxic waste in the brain which needs to be transported out by cerebrospinal fluid, which is most often static. And guess what! The study reveals the best time to have more cerebrospinal fluid and increased flow rate is at night. That's when young school age kids are lying down to fall asleep due to a reduced cerebral blood flow.
Sleep and mental health in preadolescents are linked in the brain, according to new research published in Human Brain Mapping.
The new study links sleep disturbance to various mental disorders and often precedes the onset of mental disorders in youth. Not a fun fact!
Wang has several ongoing studies planned to unveil the causal effects of sleep deficits on mental health and to study the longitudinal changes of these findings.
With the United States facing a national emergency when it comes to teenage mental health, starting school later could help. It's time for schools to wake up to that fact. No pun intended. Let the children sleep!
