Dados do Trabalho

Título

Sleep Habits and Total Resting Time of School-Aged Children

Introdução

Sleep is important for the mental and physical health of children. Insufficient time and sleep fragmentation are associated, for example, with obesity, poor performance at school, and behavioral and emotional problems. Good sleep habits are acquired in the family environment from birth, however, a decrease on the total sleep time has been noted, related to the habits of modern families regarding food, physical activity, and use of electronic equipment, as well as misuse of lighting at night.

Objetivo

This study aimed to identify the sleep habits and total resting time of school-aged children.

Métodos

This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study and all the procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee (nº370/2018) of the Federal University of São Paulo. Children from the 1st to the 4th grades of a private elementary school in São Paulo - Brazil had their activity-rest cycle monitored for 15 consecutive days by an actimeter (ActTrust®) that was positioned on the non-dominant upper limb. Data analysis was performed using the software ActStudio©. Sleep habits were registered by children and their parents in a sleep diary.

Resultados

We analysed the sleep habits of 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls, that were 7.58(±1.09) years old in average. The mean of total resting time among the children was 479.89 (±21.03) minutes, the bedtime was 10:56pm and the arousal time was 7:49 am. According to the sleep habits, 50% of children have a TV set in the room, 16.7% used to keep some kind of light on during sleep, 33.3% used to eat stimulating food at night, and all children practice physical activity during the day. The average time use of electronic equipments by children was 2.8(±1.86) hours a day.

Conclusões

School-aged children are sleeping later and fewer than recommended in the literature, making extensive use of electronics equipments and eating stimulating foods just before bedtime. These habits can be changed to improve the quality and quantity of sleep.

Palavras-chave

Nursing, sleep, education, child, pediatric nursing