Kids Weren’t Getting Enough Sleep, Even in the 19th Century
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Polka Dot Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Everybody loves to sleep, but most people don’t get enough of it, especially kids. And as it turns out, the insufficiency among youngsters is nothing new — it dates back to the 19th century, according to research published in the latest journal Pediatrics.
From 1897 through 2009, 32 sleep guidelines for children were published while at the same time, the average amount of sleep fell by 0.71 minutes each year. That means that the amount of suggested sleep for young ones is 70 minutes less now than since the turn of 19th century.
While all this was going on, researchers were concluding that their guidelines weren’t really being met and except for one year, 1926, children weren’t getting the right amount of sleep deemed “healthy.”
The onset of new technology and the increasing pace of modern life are most likely to blame.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio