Byline: Julie Anderson
Mar. 11--If you snooze, you don't lose -- especially if you're a kid.
Kids need their sleep. Sleep deprivation can affect children's overall health, school performance and behavior.
To help meet a growing demand, Children's Hospital is expanding its sleep-related services, a move that will include construction of a freestanding sleep center by the end of 2007. The hospital also will double, from two to four, the number of beds for sleep studies used to diagnose sleep disorders.
The move coincides with expansions of sleep study capacity at a number of hospitals in the Omaha and Lincoln areas, driven by a growing awareness of sleep disorders and the problems they can cause.
Many children, according to the National Sleep Foundation, aren't getting required amounts of nightly sleep.
Dr. Hari Bandla, director of the Children's sleep disorders program, said parents may not be aware of how much sleep kids need. A variety of social and cultural factors -- from too much late-night computer and cell phone time to early school start times -- also may keep them from getting it.
Sleep deprivation is more common among teenagers than in preschool children, he said. As they enter puberty, their biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for sleeping and waking.
Most often, children can make up for lost sleep on weekends. But if they're involved in a lot of activities, they may not get that chance. Sleep deprivation also can make teens vulnerable to accidents, namely by falling asleep behind the wheel.
'Everyone should be aware of these things because it's really a public health problem,' said Bandla, who joined Children's in January. He is one of a few pediatric board certified sleep specialists in the United States.
Bandla recommended that parents set limits for teens when it comes to computers and other electronic gadgets and that gadgets be kept out of bedrooms. Computer time should be kept to early evening because exposure to the light from the computer screen inhibits onset of sleep.
Parents also should make sure kids don't overload with activities on weekends so they have time to catch up on sleep, he said. One to two hours of extra sleep a day is best on weekends. More than four can compromise nighttime sleep during the week.
Sleep disturbances, he said, typically can be classified as behavioral or medical. Behavioral sleep problems are more common among the preschool set, from ages 1 to 5, and typically can be addressed by adjusting sleep routines and behaviors.
The medical category includes sleep apnea. Tissues of the upper airway relax and block the airway. The sleeper rouses, begins breathing again and drifts back to sleep.
In adults as well as children, the condition can have serious health consequences, including cardiovascular disease. In very young children, it can lead to a failure to gain weight.
In children, the most common cause of snoring and sleep apnea is enlarged tonsils and adenoids, Bandla said. Nearly 10 percent of children snore. Of those, about 2 percent have sleep apnea. But just as the condition is linked to obesity in adults, that connection also is increasingly showing up in children.
In addition to more sleep study beds, the hospital's expansion of sleep services will include assembling a team that includes an ear, nose and throat specialist; nutritionists; and home health care services. That approach also will help with the treatment of children with developmental disabilities, who have a high prevalence of sleep disorders.
Other area hospitals have increased their sleep services. Alegent Health has 22 beds at four hospitals, up from 10 beds at two hospitals in 2005 and sees patients as young as 5. BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln, which also sees children, has increased from six to 11 beds.
Creighton University Medical Center has doubled its beds from two to four. Methodist Health System is planning to go from two beds to six, and the Nebraska Medical Center has four beds.
Copyright (c) 2007, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
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