How often have you 'crashed all day' on a holiday 'making up your sleep'?
Sleep is one of the most under-studied, undervalued. Kids fight it, teenagers feel they don't need it, adults are so busy handling the stresses of life that they don't use it either.is used to help muscles grow.
Anabolic hormones such as growth hormones are secreted preferentially during sleep which help with overall growth. Tennis players need to grow...height for serve, muscle mass for stroke power. So, sleep is of the essence.
Interestingly, children who get enough sleep also find it easier to focus on school work. Their memory tends to be better, they grasp concepts faster. All this for tennis players is essential as they have limited time periods in which to do homework and school work catch up.
Interestingly too much sleep is also hazardous and there appears to be an ideal number of hours of sleep that one needs.
Age Average amount of sleep per day
3-5 years 11-13 hours
5-12 years 9-11 hours
Adolescents 9-10 hours
Adults 7-8 hours
Recent studies in adults, publicised in the medical community, have shown that 7-8 hours of sleep reduces blood pressure. Interestingly people who are sleep deprived take time losing weight..
In children the sleep is even more important - it is during sleep that muscles rest and the bones and muscles grow.Food consumed during the day is converted to protien which helps the muscles grow. Anabolic hormones such are as growth hormones are secreted preferentially during sleep which help with overall growth.
So start puuting your kids( and yourself) to sleep early. You will need to stop TV by 7 pm (you can turn it on once they have slept!!) and change your lifestyle to be able to give them their dinner earlier. If they haven't completed their homework, keep it for the morning.
Don't try to teach them at 10 pm, they will not retain anything and will just land up being sleep deprived leading to further lack of concentration the next morning.
On school nights:
1)Feed your kids dinner early ie by 7-7.30 pm, have them wash their feet and brush their teeth
2) Lights and TV and all noise except soft soothing music off by 8-8.30pm.
3) A nice oil leg message may help in-duce the zzzzzzzzzzz time or a cosy
cuddle in bed!
Contributed by Sunita Maheshwari , a parent of Alisha ( Grade 8) and Adil Kalyanpur ( Grade 5) of Inventure Academy.
Sunita is a US Board certified Pediatric Cardiologist who did her training at Osmania Medical College and then at Yale University in the US. She was the winner of the 'Young Clinician Award' from the American Heart Association and the 'Best Teacher Award' at Yale University.
She was Head of Department at Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore for a decade. She was nominated one of the Top 20 women achievers in medicine in India in 2009
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