Attendances for child sleep disorders triple

Analysis of NHS data by BBC Panorama has revealed that hospital attendances in England for children under 14 with sleep disorders have tripled in 10 years.

Medical professionals have linked poor sleep in children to a greater risk of obesity, lower immunity, and mental health issues, as well as a lack of emotional control and poor school performance. For obesity in particular, research has shown that we are more likely to crave foods high in sugar and fat when we are tired as poor sleep upsets the balance of our hormones that control appetite.

The BBC has also revealed that prescriptions of melatonin, a common sleep medication, have increased by ten times for children and adults under 55 over the same 10 year period, with figures showing that the number of prescriptions in England for melatonin rose to nearly 600,000 in 2015.

Many believe that high sugar and caffeine consumption are strong contributory factors to poor sleep in children, while blue light emitted by smartphones and tablets, which reduces the natural production of melatonin, is also commonly blamed.

The Children's Sleep Charity has found 92 per cent of the families using their specialist clinics had solved their child's sleep problems within six months by changing their bedtime routine. It claims that sleep problems are unnecessarily costing the NHS millions in needless GP and paediatrician appointments and prescriptions.

Dr Catherine Hill, consultant at Southampton Children's Hospital, said: “We know there's a cost burden to the NHS here and now from childhood sleep difficulties. If we continue to ignore emerging research evidence about the importance of sleep to health, we're potentially storing up problems for the NHS in future.

“We desperately need to get children's sleep on the public health agenda. We've done it with nutrition: people are starting to understand the perils of sugar, the dangers of childhood obesity. We now need to wake up to the importance of sleep."