Parents may feel it's clear that missing a nap means their
young children will be grumpy and out-of-sorts, but scientists who
study sleep say almost nothing is known about how daytime sleep affects
children's coping skills and learning.
Now neuroscientist Rebecca Spencer at the University of Massachusetts
Amherst has received a five-year, $2 million grant from NIH's Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute to significantly advance knowledge about how
napping and sleep affect memory, behavior and emotions in preschoolers.
Spencer says with pressure mounting in some school districts to
eliminate naps, "we feel it's important to study this and know their
value more precisely. There's a sense among some educators that kids
have to 'get over' napping in preparation for kindergarten, but it could
be misguided. There's some evidence in young adults and in older
children that naps are beneficial. So I suspect there is a benefit for
younger children too. We need to know whether keeping naps in the school
day is important."
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