Pattern and Problems of Sleep among Rural School going Children

Abstract

Introduction: Sufficient sleep is essential in children as it directly impacts mental and physical development. However, chronic sleep loss continues to increase in our country. In this context the present study aimed to shed light on the sleep schedule and pre-sleep behavior, of school going children. Material and Methods: A cross sectional interview study was conducted on 380 school children of 4 th-10 th standard from 4 Government schools of Chennai within 10 km of Madha Medical College. The schools were selected by simple random sampling method. Childrens Sleep Habit Questionnaire was administered to them from August 2014 to January 2015. Results: This study included 380 school children, 8-17 years with a mean age of 13.5±2.02. More than half 234 of the children were girls (61.6%). Total sleep time on weekdays was 8.4 hours that increased to 9.8 hours on weekends. Watching Television before going to bed was found in 92.6% of the children. Room sharing with family members was seen in 95.2% of the children. Co-sleeping was observed in 98.4% of the children. Day time sleepiness was observed in 63.2% of the children. Conclusion: It has been observed from our study that there is a chronic sleep loss in the children which has to be addressed by creating awareness among the parents and the children regarding the importance of sleep. Regular sleep studies could be conducted in the schools to implement effective interventions for the harmful sleep habits like watching Television before going to bed.