Culture Post: Your Child’s Bedtime Affects Their Gut Health

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalDaily.

The age-old saying “early to bed” may have more truth to it than we thought, particularly among kids. Adding to the growing evidence that early sleepers enjoy a range of health benefits including better mental well-being, researchers now found that an earlier bedtime in children is linked to greater microbial diversity in their gut.

The findings indicate that an early bedtime, particularly before 9:30 p.m., is a valuable habit to cultivate, as children who went to bed earlier had a higher abundance of beneficial gut bacteria and a lower presence of various harmful gut microbes.

The research team led by Chunmei Mao and his colleagues at the Gansu Rehabilitation Center Hospital in China came up with the findings based on analysis conducted on fecal samples from 88 healthy children aged 2 to 14 years.

“The study concluded that there were notable variations in species diversity, abundance, and metabolic pathways in the gut flora between individuals who maintain a consistent sleep schedule and those with irregular sleep patterns. It emphasized the importance of sufficient sleep in promoting healthy cognitive and physical development in children. The outcomes of this examination offer a fresh perspective for exploring pharmacological approaches to address sleep disturbances in pediatric patients,” the researchers wrote.

Source: MedicalDaily
https://www.medicaldaily.com/your-childs-bedtime-affects-their-gut-health-heres-how-early-sleep-benefits-them-472527

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