Why scientists say you really need to keep a simple routine with young children
- Routine is linked to children getting more sleep, researchers say
- Less sleep has been linked to thinner areas of the brain related to behavior
For many parents, it can be difficult to maintain a regular routine with young children.
But eating as a family, regular playtime and a strict bedtime can help boost their brain development, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that regular family routines are linked to children getting more sleep each night.
And this is associated with improved brain structure and emotional processing during their formative years.
Experts from Colorado State University analyzed data collected on 94 children between the ages of five and nine from different backgrounds.
Researchers found that a strict bedtime can help boost your child’s brain development. Those who got less sleep were more likely to have thinner areas of the brain associated with language, controlling behavior, sensory perception and a smaller volume of a part of the brain associated with processing emotions.
They carefully measured the children’s brain structure using MRI scans, and parents were asked about their child’s sleep duration and family routines.
Questions about family routines included whether children did the same things every morning when they woke up, whether parents regularly played with their children after they got home from work, whether parents regularly read or told stories to their children, whether children went to bed almost every evening at the same time and whether the family ate together – and at the same time – every evening.
Analysis found that less frequent family routines were significantly associated with shorter sleep during the week.
Shorter sleep, in turn, was associated with changes in the child’s brain structure.
Those who got less sleep were likely to have thinner brain areas related to language, controlling behavior, sensory perception and a smaller volume of a part of the brain related to emotion processing.
Dr. Emily Merz, who led the study, said: ‘Shorter sleep duration was significantly associated with reduced cortical thickness in the frontal, temporal and parietal areas and smaller volume of the amygdala – a brain region essential for emotion processing.’
The researchers said children from families with lower incomes and whose parents had lower levels of education were more likely to sleep less.
“We also found that consistency in family routines significantly mediated these associations,” Dr. Merz added.
Analysis by Colorado State University revealed that less frequent family routines, including not eating regularly as a family, were significantly associated with shorter sleep during the week
‘This could imply that socio-economic disadvantage disrupts the consistency of family routines, potentially increasing children’s stress and reducing their sleep time, which then affects brain development.’
The team said their research, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, could yield programs that support children in getting consistent sleep during this important age.
“Our findings suggest that sleep deprivation may be linked not only to the structure of the brain, but also to the function of emotion-processing brain circuits in children,” Dr. Merz added.
‘This could possibly explain why reduced sleep leads to greater sensitivity to negative emotions. Although most developmental sleep research has focused on teens, this study underscores the need to assess and support children’s sleep health before adolescence.”
Separate research, to be presented this week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Denver, examines how sleep deprivation in teens affects the way their brains work.
Scientists from the North Carolina Academy of Science found that teens who slept for eight hours had better cognitive scores compared to those who slept for just six hours and used their phones.