Sleep: An Unrecognized Actor in Child Development

This publication deals successively with:

• sleep duration and prevalence of sleep problems in children,
• factors associated with sleep problems at the beginning of schooling, and
• the consequences of a lack of sleep at a young age on children’s development (e.g., difficulties in acquiring vocabulary, hyperactivity, and excess weight). In conclusion, some avenues for intervention and research are presented.

This publication is based on data collected as part of the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development from children of about 5 months to 8 years of age.