Irregular Bedtimes Arrest Children’s Cognitive Development: Study

A latest study published in the journal of Epidemiology and Community Health finds a strong association between irregular bedtimes and cognitive development.

According to the latest finding, irregular bedtimes during early childhood disrupt the brain development in a child. This study was conducted by researchers at the University College, London.

It is important for parents to know that instilling healthy sleep habits in their kids at a young age is important.

With the new finding, researchers wanted to check if the time a child went to bed affected the mental abilities. Apart from this the researchers also wanted to check if the effects were cumulative or whether any particular period during early childhood was crucial.

The researchers examined more than 11,000 children at age 7 who were born between September 2000 and January 2002. They had participated in the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study. They gathered details regarding the sleeping habits of these children at ages 3, 5 and 7 from mothers.  They tested their cognitive skills in three areas i.e. maths, spatial awareness and intellect.

"Our findings suggest that inconsistent bedtimes, especially at very young ages and/or throughout early childhood, are linked to children's cognitive development. Relations between inconsistent bedtimes and aspects of early child development may have knock on effects for health and broader social outcomes throughout the lifecourse," said authors.

The researchers noticed that irregular bedtimes were more prevalent in children at age 3. And one in five kids went to sleep at different times.  By the age of seven, more than half of the kids went to bed regularly between 7.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. And they identified the fact that those kids that had irregular sleeptimes and went to bed after 9.00 p.m. belonged to socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

On checking the scores, both the girls and boys with irregular sleep times at the age of 3 had lower scores in all the areas. This indicates that age 3 is a sensitive time for brain development.

At the age of three girls that had irregular bed timings had lower scores in all three areas whereas boys showed similar results if they had irregular bed timings in any two of the three age groups.

"Sleep is the price we pay for plasticity on the prior day and the investment needed to allow learning fresh the next day. Early child development has profound influences on health and wellbeing across the life course. Therefore, reduced or disrupted sleep, especially if it occurs at key times in development, could have important impacts on health throughout life," researchers concluded.