Sleep is very important state of health.

Sleep is a state in which body and mind repares itself.

Adequate sleep is related to time and quality of sleep.

Either less time of sleep or poor quality of sleep ,may affect the body and mind adversely.

Children require more hours of sleep in comparision to adults.

A newborn,less than 4 weeks of age,require 16-18 hours of sleep per day.

A school going children,6-12 years of age require 9-10 hours of sleep per day.

Sleep is essential for the smooth functioning of body and mind.

Following are the 5 signs of disturbed sleep.

1.MORNING HEADACHE:

This is a very important sign of inadequate sleep.It is caused by CO2 retention due to sleep apnea(stoppage of breathing for more than 20 seconds)

2.HYPERACTIVITY:

This is a separate disease entity in children due to many causes,but sleep disturbances is an important cause.

3.ATTENTION DEFICIT:

Excessive sleepiness during day time and poor academic performances is an important sign of inadequate sleep but the child may become inattentive with less capacity to concentrate on anything due to less and bad quality of sleep.

4.RESTLESSNESS AND FRAGMENTED SLEEP:

Frequent arousal during sleep and excessive movement of any part of body is an important sign of disturbed sleep.

5.SOUND DURING SLEEP:

Sleep should ideally be soundless.Any audible sound during sleep is a sign of sleep disordered breathing.

Noisy breathing in the form of snoring is an important sign of upper airway obstruction,which leads to poor growth of body and mind of child and in long term ,it may cause heart disease in children.