Survey finds surprising prevalence of melatonin use among children
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Key takeaways:
- 18.5% of children aged 5 to 9 years and 19.4% of those aged 10 to 13 years had been given melatonin in the previous 30 days.
- The median duration of melatonin use was 12 months among preschoolers.
Almost one in five school-aged children and preteens now take melatonin for aid in sleeping, according to survey findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers have argued in the past that increased education and clearer guidelines are needed on melatonin use in children, with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine last year recommending that parents consult with health care professionals before giving it to their children.
“Our research traditionally looks at sleep and circadian rhythms in young children, predominantly preschoolers, and we typically only work with healthy kids who don’t have any sleep problems,” Lauren E. Hartstein, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Sleep and Development Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Healio.
“Last year, when we were screening families, we all of a sudden noticed that a lot of these healthy kids, mostly toddlers, are regularly taking melatonin, which struck us as new and kind of odd,” Hartstein said.
Hartstein and colleagues were interested to learn more about this trend in melatonin usage among children, but could not find any recent data on the topic.
“So that inspired us to do this survey to learn more about the actual prevalence and characteristics of children’s melatonin use,” Hartstein said.
They issued a brief online survey to parents of 993 children (mean age, 6.14 years; age range, 1 to 13 years; 52.8% girls), which included questions about demographics, health and developmental history, typical sleep patterns, any sleep concerns and sleep related practices, including any melatonin ingestion in the last 30 days.
For those who did take melatonin, the researchers also noted characteristics such as dosage, timing, duration and the form — such as a chewable or gummy vitamin. They analyzed responses by three age groups: preschoolers aged 1 to 4 years (n = 450); school-aged children aged 5 to 9 years (n = 368); and preteen children aged 10 to 13 years (n = 175).
Survey responses showed that melatonin was used by 5.6% of preschoolers, 18.5% of school-aged children and 19.4% of preteens (P < .01) in the previous 30 days, with average doses of 0.5 mg for preschoolers, 1 mg for school-aged children and 2 mg for preteens (P < .01).
“We were pretty surprised by the high prevalence,” Hartstein said.
Also surprising, according to Hartstein, was the length of time children had regularly been taking melatonin, especially among preschoolers. The survey found a median range of time of 12 months for preschoolers, 18 months for school-aged children and 21 months for preteens (P < .01).
“Even in those under 5 years old, it was very common for them to have been taking it for more than a year, which is a pretty significant portion of their young lifespan,” Hartstein said.
The major takeaway, she added, is that parents are struggling to find solutions when their children are trying to sleep.
“What I think can be put into practice is asking more questions about children’s sleep, understanding what parents’ concerns are and understanding what underlying factors might be contributing to children’s sleep problems that could be addressed through behavioral interventions or other alternatives,” Hartstein said.
She said the long-term effects and safety of melatonin need to be examined.
“There’s only a couple of studies that have looked at long-term safety of melatonin use,” Hartstein said. “There's a couple of concerns from the literature that it could affect the onset of the timing of puberty, and so there just needs to be more research confirming whether it’s safe for children to be taking long term as well as whether it’s effective long term.”
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