For young children, the quality of sleep may be more important than the duration of sleep when it comes it academic performance, according to a new study.
The researchers found that a high percentage of time in bed spent sleeping influenced positively a child’s grades in math, English, and French as a second language, while grades in science, technology and the arts were relatively unaffected.
The researchers monitored the sleep 75 elementary school children between seven and 11 years old for five consecutive weeknights. The researchers measured the duration and quality of each child’s sleep using an actigraph, a small watch-like device. This information was combined with a sleep log of the time each child went to bed and woke up, recorded by the parents.
Original research paper published in print in Sleep Medicine in December, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
Reut Gruber, McGill University, Québec
