AASM releases consensus recommendations on child sleep duration

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has issued its first-ever consensus recommendations on the amount of sleep children and adolescents need to promote optimal health and avoid the risks associated with insufficient sleep.

The recommendations, which are published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine and was discussed during SLEEP 2016, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, are:

Infants 4 to 12 months of age should sleep 12 to 16 hours, including naps, per day on a regular basis;
Children aged 1 to 2 years should receive 11 to 14 hours of sleep, including naps, per day on a regular basis;
Those 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours, including naps, per day on a regular basis;
Children aged 6 to 12 year should sleep 9 to 12 hours per day on a regular basis; and
Adolescents aged 13 to 18 years should receive 8 to 10 hours of sleep on a regular basis.

“Sleep is essential for a healthy life, and it is important to promote healthy sleep habits in early childhood,” Shalini Paruthi, MD, Pediatric Consensus Panel moderator and American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) fellow, said in a press release. “It is especially important as children reach adolescence to continue to ensure that teens are able to get sufficient sleep.”

The recommendations follow a 10-month review of 864 published scientific articles on the relationship between sleep duration and health in children, by a 13-member Pediatric Consensus Panel. According to the AASM, the panel analyzed the evidence using a formal grading system, arriving at their final recommendations after multiple rounds of voting.

The consensus recommendations have been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Sleep Research Society and the American Association of Sleep Technologists.

The panel concluded that sleeping the recommended number of hours per day is associated with improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life and mental and physical health. Meanwhile, sleeping fewer than the recommended number of hours is associated with attention, behavior and learning problems, and increased risk for accidents, injuries, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and depression, according to the AASM. In addition, the panel also found that insufficient sleep among teenagers is associated with increased risk for self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.

The panel also found that sleeping more than the recommended number of hours may be associated with hypertension, diabetes, obesity and mental health problems.

“More than a third of the U.S. population is not getting enough sleep, and for children who are in the critical years of early development, sleep is even more crucial,” Nathaniel Watson, MD, MSc, AASM president, said in a press release. “Making sure there is ample time for sleep is one of the best ways to promote a healthy lifestyle for a child.”

Disclosure: AASM reports that funding for the project was provided by the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, a partnership between the CDC, AASM and SRS.

Additional reading:

http://www.sleepeducation.org/