The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has released its first official recommendations for how much sleep young people should get. The recommendations are for infants, all the way up to teenagers. The guidelines were published in The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine and have been endorsed by the American Academy of Paediatrics, the American Association of Sleep Technologists, and the Sleep Research Society.
Experts from 12 medical institutions analysed 864 studies that were conducted on kids and sleep and recommend that:
Infants four months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours, including naps, on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children one to two years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours, including naps, on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children three to five years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, including naps, on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Children six to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep eight to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
There was moo recommendation for infants younger than four months because of insufficient evidence and wide variance in the data. According to the researchers, Getting enough sleep is linked to better health, improved mental performance, and better behaviour, while not getting enough sleep comes with higher risks for conditions like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and depression.