A five year study by the New Brunswick Health Council into children and youth in the province, has found that many aren’t getting the sleep they need.
Less that 4 out of 10 youth in New Brunswick get eight or more hours of sleep each night.
CEO Stephane Robichaud says this can have a negative impact on several areas of their health, “We know that when they are not sleeping enough, it will have an impact on their mental health, on mood disorders, on their weight, on preventable injuries and their use use of tobacco. There are a lot of related factors that it can have an impact on.”
Eight hours of sleep is the minimum recommendation, but national guidelines suggest even more than that. They say children from 5 to 13 years old should have 9 to 11 hours of sleep, and youth 14 to 17 year old should sleep eight to 10 hours per night.
Robichaud says studies have found one of the biggest culprits for lack of sleep is cell phones and other electronic devices..
