14 DAY TRIAL // Parents would do best to make sure that their kids go to bed and wake up at regular hours, a new paper in the journal Pediatrics argues.
Unless they want them to develop behavioral problems, and feel and act as if they were constantly suffering from jet lag, that is.
Researchers with the University College London explain that, according to their investigations, irregular bedtimes make kids over the age of 7 more likely to act up in one way or another.
Besides, such erratic sleeping patterns can affect both brain development and the children's health on the long run.
“Not having fixed bedtimes, accompanied by a constant sense of flux, induces a state of body and mind akin to jet lag and this matters for healthy development and daily functioning,” Professor Yvonne Kelly says, as cited by EurekAlert.
Furthermore, “We know that early child development has profound influences on health and wellbeing across the life course. It follows that disruptions to sleep, especially if they occur at key times in development, could have important lifelong impacts on health.”