ParentsWorld – July 2019

COVER

STORY

NURTURING 21st CENTURY CHILDREN

S

leep deprivation is a new millennium lifestyle

malady causing irreparable damage to children’s

physical health and well-being. Driven by pushy

parents, millions of children and teenagers across

the country are sacrificing sleep at the altar of academics,

co-curricular and sports education, and technology

obsession. According to a research study published in

October last year in The Indian Journal of Pediatrics (‘Sleep

Pattern of Adolescents’ in a School in Delhi, India: Impact

on their Mood and Academic Performance’), 90.5-92.

percent of 13-15-year-olds in Delhi are sleep-deprived. The

outcome is poor academic performance, lethargy, irritation

and incremental stress among adolescents, says the study.

A case in point is 13-year-old Latha Murty, a class VII

student of a top-ranked private school in Bangalore. Latha

wakes up at 5 a.m on weekdays to reach her badminton

coaching class at a sports centre 12 km from her apartment

where she lives with her parents and younger brother. She

practices badminton from 6-8 a.m and after a quick snack

with her mother who brings her breakfast and lunch box,

she dashes off to school which begins at 8.45 a.m. After

a full school day, which finishes at 3.45 p.m, she rushes to

an academic tutorials class between 4.30-7.00 p.m. Back

home, she does homework and study. Her activities-packed

day ends at 10.30 p.m when she retires to bed. Latha gets

barely six hours of sleep everyday against the National

Sleep Foundation, USA’s-recommended nine-11 hours for

early teens.

Unfortunately, there is widespread ignorance within

the country’s parents community about the dangers of

persistent sleep deprivation in children. Night sleep is not

only a time for the body to relax, recuperate and renew

energy, it’s also a period when the body performs important

brain development and tissue repair functions. “Restful

and adequate sleep is critically important for the physical

Is sleep deprivation holding

YOUR CHILD BACK?

K.P. MALINI, CYNTHIA JOHN & MINI P.

Driven by pushy parents, millions of children and teenagers across the

country are sacrificing sleep at the altar of academics, co-curricular

and sports education, and technology obsession. The consequences

are disastrous — poor academic performance, lethargy, irritation,

incremental stress and infection-prone children

Dr. Ranjini Raghavan