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Local children of pre-school age are short of sleep due to study pressure, with 65 percent of children sleeping less than nine hours a day, according to a survey by the Chinese Medical Association of 700 pre-school children from 60 local kindergartens, the Shanghai Morning Post reported today.
Local kindergartens currently open many special classes for children, and parents have to choose one or two of them to improve their children's competitiveness and make sure they keep up with other children. Therefore, parents usually ask their children to do activities like play piano, learn calligraphy or painting late at night.
In the morning, the parents ask their children to get up as early as themselves and usually send them to kindergartens before 7:00 am.
"All the kindergartens open special classes to attract more children and many parents ask them to open such classes," said a spokesman with a local kindergarten.
Long periods of insufficient sleep can lead to insomnia and other chronic diseases for children, said medical doctor Chen Zhaorong. Children's growth hormone is usually excreted during sleep, so sleep shortage will affect their growth, Chen added.
Children of pre-school age should sleep for 10-12 hours a day and parents should focus on the sleep time and quality of their children, Chen said.
(eastday.com May 29, 2003)
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