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Irregularbedtimescurbyoungkids'brainpower:AndmayhaveknockoneffectsonhealththroughoutlifeScienceDaily

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Irregularbedtimescurbyoungkids'brainpower:Andmayhave
knockoneffectsonhealththroughoutlife
Date:
Source:
Summary:

July8,2013
BMJBritishMedicalJournal
Goingtobedatdifferenttimeseverynightthroughoutearlychildhoodseemstocurbchildren's
brainpower,findsalarge,longtermstudy.

FULLSTORY

Newresearchfindsthatgoingtobedatdifferenttimesevery
nightthroughoutearlychildhoodseemstocurbchildren'sbrain
power.
Credit:irinabozkaya/Fotolia

Goingtobedatdifferenttimeseverynightthroughoutearlychildhoodseemstocurb
children'sbrainpower,findsalarge,longtermstudypublishedonlineintheJournalof
EpidemiologyandCommunityHealth.
Giventheimportanceofearlychildhooddevelopmentonsubsequenthealth,theremaybeknockoneffects
acrossthelifecourse,suggesttheauthors.
Theauthorslookedatwhetherbedtimesinearlychildhoodwererelatedtobrainpowerinmorethan11,000
sevenyearolds,allofwhomwerepartoftheUKMillenniumCohortStudy(MCS).
MCSisanationallyrepresentativelongtermstudyofUKchildrenbornbetweenSeptember2000andJanuary
2002,andtheresearchdrewonregularsurveysandhomevisitsmadewhenthechildrenwere3,5,and7,to
findoutaboutfamilyroutines,includingbedtimes.
Theauthorswantedtoknowwhetherthetimeachildwenttobed,andtheconsistencyofbedtimes,hadany
impactonintellectualperformance,measuredbyvalidatedtestscoresforreading,maths,andspatial
awareness.
Andtheywantedtoknowiftheeffectswerecumulativeand/orwhetheranyparticularperiodsduringearly
childhoodweremorecriticalthanothers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708200158.htm

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Irregularbedtimescurbyoungkids'brainpower:AndmayhaveknockoneffectsonhealththroughoutlifeScienceDaily

Irregularbedtimesweremostcommonattheageof3,whenaroundoneinfivechildrenwenttobedatvarying
times.Bytheageof7,morethanhalfthechildrenwenttobedregularlybetween7.30and8.30pm.
Childrenwhosebedtimeswereirregularorwhowenttobedafter9pmcamefrommoresociallydisadvantaged
backgrounds,thefindingsshowed.
Whentheywere7,girlswhohadirregularbedtimeshadlowerscoresonallthreeaspectsofintellectassessed,
aftertakingaccountofotherpotentiallyinfluentialfactors,thanchildrenwithregularbedtimes.Butthiswasnot
thecasein7yearoldboys.
Irregularbedtimesbytheageof5werenotassociatedwithpoorerbrainpoweringirlsorboysattheageof7.
Butirregularbedtimesat3yearsofagewereassociatedwithlowerscoresinreading,maths,andspatial
awarenessinbothboysandgirls,suggestingthataroundtheageof3couldbeasensitiveperiodforcognitive
development.
Theimpactofirregularbedtimesseemedtobecumulative.
Girlswhohadneverhadregularbedtimesatages3,5,and7hadsignificantlylowerreading,mathsandspatial
awarenessscoresthangirlswhohadhadconsistentbedtimes.Theimpactwasthesameinboys,butforany
twoofthethreetimepoints.
Theauthorspointoutthatirregularbedtimescoulddisruptnaturalbodyrhythmsandcausesleepdeprivation,
sounderminingtheplasticityofthebrainandtheabilitytoacquireandretaininformation.
"Sleepisthepricewepayforplasticityonthepriordayandtheinvestmentneededtoallowlearningfreshthe
nextday,"theywrite.Andtheyadd:"Earlychilddevelopmenthasprofoundinfluencesonhealthandwellbeing
acrossthelifecourse.Therefore,reducedordisruptedsleep,especiallyifitoccursatkeytimesindevelopment,
couldhaveimportantimpactsonhealththroughoutlife."

StorySource:
TheabovepostisreprintedfrommaterialsprovidedbyBMJBritishMedicalJournal.Note:Contentmaybe
editedforstyleandlength.

JournalReference:
1. Y.Kelly,J.Kelly,A.Sacker.Timeforbed:associationswithcognitiveperformancein7yearold
children:alongitudinalpopulationbasedstudy.JournalofEpidemiology&CommunityHealth,2013
DOI:10.1136/jech2012202024

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BMJBritishMedicalJournal."Irregularbedtimescurbyoungkids'brainpower:Andmayhaveknockoneffects
onhealththroughoutlife."ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,8July2013.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708200158.htm>.

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