N/A

Last week Family Medical Practice’s head pediatrician Dr. Jonathan Halevy addressed a group of 40 parents at BVIS international school on the topic of sleep problems and how to develop healthy sleep patterns.

Dr. Jonathan emphasized the importance of sleep, which can assist and support brain function and development, and explained what happens when a person lacks sleep.

There is a high prevalence of sleep disorders throughout childhood and adolescence. 25–50% of preschoolers and up to 40% of adolescents experience problems with sleep. About 30% of children diagnosed with ADHD may actually suffer from a sleep disorder.

Dr. Jonathan also explained about the circle of sleep, which includes four stages: essentially stages 1–2 are forms of light sleep, while stages 3–4 are deep sleep and REM sleep when dreaming usually occurs.

During the talk, Dr. Jonathan explained about sleeping hours and the problems of each age, including newborns, infants, toddlers, preschool, school-aged and adolescent children. In order to have a good sleep, he kept reminding everybody to establish a solid bedtime routine, with no screen before bed and no caffeine in the evening.

For more information, please check out Dr. Jonathan’s article Counting Sheep in Oi Vietnam here: http://oivietnam.com/2017/05/counting-sleep/