Less sleep, more injuries for children

New York, Feb 23: 'Late to bed and early to rise' makes children more prone to injuries, a new study has claimed. The findings, revealing a direct negative relation between sleep and injuries, showed that the average number of injuries during the preschool years was two times higher for children who did not get enough sleep each day. The study also recommended that children between three and six years should get eleven hours or more of sleep a day.

The increased risk of injuries associated with inadequate sleep was significant even after taking into account factors like maternal age, education and the child's temperament. The ethnic and socio economic diversity showed the relevancy of this issue across different backgrounds.

The results can have significant implications for the prevention of injuries, lead researcher Christina Koulouglioti said.

UNI