healthy kidshealthy kids
SWEET LULLABY S
BETTER SLEEP FOR CHILDREN by Marlaina Donato and Kirby Baldwin
leep is essential for both survival and the ability to thrive, yet as children’s schedules get busier and they spend more time in front of screens, their average sleep time oſten decreases. While the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends that kids between the ages of 6 and 12 get nine to 12 hours of sleep per night for optimal health, they’re regularly getting less, and about 15 to 25 percent of youngsters and adolescents have trouble falling and staying asleep. In a recent study published in Te Lancet, researchers at the University of Maryland
School of Medicine found that children that get less than nine hours of sleep per night have notable differences in areas of the brain that influence memory, intelligence and well- being compared to those that sleep more than nine hours. According to researchers, such insufficiencies in early adolescence can lead to long-lasting neurocognitive consequences.
Why Kids Aren’t Sleeping Anna Esparham, M.D., FAAP, an integrative medical expert with the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends that parents look for clues as to why their children can’t sleep, including stress, increased screen time and less physical activity. However, there may be other underlying issues. A lesser-known culprit that may contribute to a child’s compromised sleep is
impaired mouth syndrome (IMS), a term coined by dentist Felix Liao, a certified airway-centered mouth doctor and past-president of the International Academy of
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Biological Dentistry and Medicine. “Most people, including many dentists, don’t realize the influence that the mouth has on the body,” he says. “Te mouth is the portal to the inside. With impaired mouth syndrome, the child can still chew, smile and talk, but the body’s health can be compromised.” While birth trauma, concussion and
viruses can precipitate mouth breathing, and chronic allergies oſten exacerbate matters, immature swallowing can set off a cascade of problems. Te mouth is a critical infrastructure for proper breathing, circulation, digestion, energy and sleep. IMS occurs when jaw development is insufficient, thereby giving rise to numerous difficulties, such as a narrower airway, which can cause hypoxia, or low levels of oxygen. Liao
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