Ill Effects of Lack of Sleep on Children

Children need more sleep than adults; a child's body and brain are developing at a rapid pace. Children need plenty of sleep at night to rebuild their energy stores so they can focus and be active the following day. If your child is lacking in sleep it can cause them to become irritable and grumpy, but it can also have ill effects toward their physical and mental health.

Emotional Problems

• Many children who become sleep-deprived end up having problems with anxiety and depression. Lack of sleep can raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This can cause children to become worried, sad, irritable, nauseous or have trouble holding still. These feelings can make a child continue to have more trouble sleeping. Your child might cry more often, lose hope, become afraid of things she wasn't afraid of before, and feel like she can't do anything right.

Weight Problems

• When children don't get enough sleep, they eat more and move less, resulting in weight problems. A study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that a lack of sleep in children can result in obesity. The study found that, for every extra hour of sleep a child got, their risk dropped by 9 percent. They also found that the children with the least amount of sleep were 92 percent more likely to become obese adults than their counterparts who slept longer. Overweight and obese children are likely to have fat tissue around their neck, restricting air flow, which could cause sleep apnea and other health problems.

Diabetes

• Diabetes is another ill effect from sleep deprivation in children. According to the American Diabetes Association, "Acute total sleep loss, or even a two hour reduction of sleep per night for one week, is associated with increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and low-grade inflammation, a condition known to predispose to insulin resistance and development of diabetes." Risk of obesity from lack of sleep can also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Sleep deficit can obviously make your child unable to concentrate or focus during the day, but a study by the University of Michigan and published in Pediatrics Magazine found that sleep apnea, snoring and other sleep disorders can cause or contribute to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. According to this study, treatment of the sleep disorder resulted in increased attention in the child, and decreased the need for medicating the child for ADHD.