Worries for South Yorkshire kids over 'dangerously low' levels of sleep
A charity says more and more children in South Yorkshire are falling behind at school because they're not getting enough sleep
Last updated 13th Oct 2017
A South Yorkshire charity say they're being "inundated" with parents whose kids are struggling to get enough sleep.
New research shows more than a third of primary school kids are getting eight hours or less every night - when the NHS say they should be getting 10.
Experts from the University of Leeds and Silentnight are warning these "dangerous" levels of sleep are affecting how well children are doing at school.
The Children's Sleep Charity in Docnaster have told Hallam they've seen a big rise in parents needing their help over the last few years.
Vicki Dawson's the CEO - she says it can have a huge impact:
"It's much harder to concentrate and to remember facts and to learn if you're sleep deprived. One of the main symptoms of sleep deprivation that we see in children in hyperactivity so their behaviour during the daytime is also affected which again compromises their learning in school.
"We're absolutely inundated with enquiries from parents around how to support their children in getting a better night's sleep. It certainly is a huge problem nationally."
The new study has found technology's a key factor in why so many children aren't getting enough sleep - even from the age of six.
Vicki says they've found smartphones and tablets can have a negative impact:
"The light from screen activities interferes with the melatonin production which is the hormone that helps us go to sleep at night so at the Children's Sleep Charity we always advise that there's no screen activity in the hour leading up to bedtime.
"We have just done some pilot work across Yorkshire in secondary schools and a lot of them were having interrupted sleep because they were doing things like sleeping with mobile phones underneath their pillows and being woken up by constant messaging. To be constantly woken up can have a huge impact - particularly on daytime functioning when children are in school."