Sleep is an indispensable thing in people ’s lives, and it is even more important for children, because children ’s height development is closely related to sleep time. If they can grasp the golden sleep period, they will play a significant role in their physical development .
American Sleep Association: Different age groups have different sleep needs
The American Academy of Pediatrics has found through a large number of research data:
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Newborns (less than 28 days old) should sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day, and usually wake up for an hour or two after sleeping for 1 to 4 hours;
1 to 4 months old babies sleep about 14 to 15 hours a day, and each sleep time is about 6 to 8 hours;
Children from 6 to 12 months sleep about 13 to 14 hours a day;
1 to 3 years old children sleep about 12 hours a day;
School-age children 3 to 6 years old sleep 10 to 13 hours a day;
Children 6-13 years old sleep 9-11 hours a day;
Adolescents 14 to 17 years old sleep 8 to 10 hours a day.
These two golden sleep periods are essential for children to grow taller
Studies have shown that 70% of a child ’s height depends on the parents ’genes and 30% depends on the day after tomorrow.
Among these 30% external factors, the effect of sleep on height ranks first, beyond the two conditions of exercise and diet, because the body secretes growth hormone when the child is in sleep, meaning: the final adulthood of the child Height depends on the secretion of growth hormone after falling asleep during development.
Infants and young children are continuously developing their brains and physiques for a long period of time after birth, and the nerve fibers and brain proteins that add fuel to their development are constantly regenerated, repaired and restored during sleep. That is to say, the growth and development of children cannot be separated from sleep, and the growth rate during sleep will increase faster.
In fact, the child does not sleep as long as possible, but to seize the golden period of sleep.
The two periods of growth hormone secretion are 21: 00-1: 00 and 5: 00-7: 00. From 9 o’clock in the evening to 1 o’clock in the morning, especially around 10 o’clock in the evening, the secretion of growth hormone reaches the highest level, which can reach 5-7 times during the day. In the hour or two around 6 in the morning, there is also a small peak in growth hormone secretion.
It should be noted that growth hormone is not secreted in large quantities on time, but only under the important premise of deep sleep. If the child has not gone to bed, or has gone to bed but has not fallen asleep, or has fallen asleep but has not yet entered deep sleep, hormone secretion will be greatly reduced, and height development will also be greatly restricted.
In addition to being good for sleep, what are the benefits of getting enough sleep?
More and more studies have proved that sleep affects people’s health far beyond height.
A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pointed out: If you sleep less than 6 hours per night, the function of 711 genes will change during the week, which will involve metabolism, immunity and anti-stress capabilities And other functions.
Adequate sleep has been proven to bring the following benefits:
1. Eliminate physical and mental fatigue, adjust the state of the person
Even steel-made machines need proper rest, not to mention people’s physical bodies. Sleep is the main way for humans to eliminate physical fatigue. Night is an important time for correction of various organs and parts. At the same time, it is also a good time for organs to synthesize and produce human energy substances for activities. This time must be sufficient.
Children with insufficient sleep have insufficient brain cells for a long time, and are prone to dizziness, mental depression, and often show abnormalities such as irritability, confusion, memory loss, and reduced ability to move, and children with adequate sleep Energetic, quick thinking, high efficiency, and more energetic than their peers.
2. Improve intelligence
Some experts have suggested that infants with better sleep tend to have more IQ development than their peers.
Because after the baby sleeps, the blood flow in the brain increases significantly, and more oxygen is obtained. It can also promote the synthesis of brain proteins and the development of the baby’s intelligence. When the child has high sleep quality and sufficient rest, the spirit will wake up Very good, the ability to accept things is stronger, the learning ability will be stronger.
3. Enhance immunity
The relationship between human immunity and sleep is very strong.
Under normal circumstances, the human body can produce antibodies to various invading antigen substances out of its own defense mechanism, and remove them through immune response to protect human health. When the human body enters a sleep state, a sleep factor called “muramic acid” is produced in the body, which can promote the increase of white blood cells, the activation of macrophages, the enhancement of liver detoxification function, as well as the continuous update of the immune system and resistance Become stronger and stronger.
For children, as long as they have enough sleep time and good sleep quality, the body can be relaxed to the maximum extent, and they will directly return to their best condition the next day, and their own disease resistance will naturally increase.