 |
|
|
|
|
Dr. Peter Dingle
|
Dr. Peter Dingle BEd BSc Hons PhD WASM has spent the past twenty years as an award winning researcher, educator and communicator. He is an Associate Professor and leading researcher in Health and the Environment at Murdoch University, Australia; co-founder of numerous community health programs; an internationally recognized public speaker and presenter; author of a couple of CDs and seven best-selling books, includingMy dog eats better than your kids and Goal setting; and a regular media personality in Australia.
“Dr. D” (“Prof. Pete”) conducts ongoing research into diet and nutrition, lifestyle and environmental impacts on health, well-being and productivity. He then takes this complex scientific information and converts it so that it
is dynamic, easy to understand and informative.
His extensive media experience as a health and environmental expert includes presenter of a national TV series “Is your home killing you?” (SBS), ongoing segments on national news and current affairs and ABC radio; and regular columnist for newspapers and magazines. He also is a member of the Australian Speaker’s Association and Western Australian Society of Magicians, as well as a group hypnotherapist and motivational coach to some of Australia’s elite junior athletes and business people.
Learn more at www.drdingle.com
|
|
|
Sleepy children speed up, not slow down |
|
| Other article :
|
Lack of sleep also has detrimental effects specific to children. Sleepy children tend to speed up rather than slow down. As a result, some people believe that a child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rather than the simpler explanation of the child simply not getting enough sleep. A recent study found sleep disorders were strongly associated with ADHD and that the sleep disorders had appeared well before the ADHD symptoms.
Symptoms of sleep disorders in children include:
- Moodiness and irritability;
- Temper tantrums;
- The tendency to emotionally “explode” at the slightest provocation;
- Over-activity and hyperactive behavior;
- Daytime naps;
- Grogginess upon waking in the morning;
- Reluctance to get out of bed in the morning;
- Reduced school performance;
- Increased risk of emotional problems such as depression;
- Increased naughtiness;
- Poor concentration; and
- Increased problems with impulse control and subsequent increase in risk-taking behaviors.
Getting enough sleep is associated with energy, joy, optimistic thinking and coping with negative emotions. In children, a lack of sleep can inhibit the release of growth hormones, reduce their coordination, immunity and metabolic functioning, make them more susceptible to diabetes and obesity, and reduce their ability to concentrate.
Other research has linked academic and behavioral problems in adolescents to irregular sleep patterns. Early school start times for adolescents are frequently associated with significant sleep deprivation, which can lead to academic, behavioral and psychological problems. High school students who regularly score C, D or F on school tests and assignments get, on average, half an hour less sleep per night than high school students who regularly get A and B grades.
For children and adults alike, every night just before we fall asleep we experience hypnagogic imagery – a state described as dreaming, drowsy, floating, wandering a few minutes in a state of relaxed wakefulness characterized by drifting thoughts and alpha brainwaves. Awareness of this state has been reported as essential to creativity and genius.
Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Edger Allen Poe and Robert Louis Stephenson all incorporated spontaneous imagery in their creative endeavors. August Kekule discovered the benzene ring in chemistry from a hypnagogic image (during a dream-like state) of a snake biting its own tail. This discovery led to the chemistry to build many elements of the modern world from plastics to pharmaceuticals.
So give your kids a head start and teach them the importance of a good night’s sleep, every night. |
|