Abstract
Inadequate or poor quality sleep in early childhood impairs social–emotional and cognitive function via effects on the developing brain and increases obesity risk via hormonal and endocrine effects. The prevalence of short sleep duration, behavioral sleep problems, and sleep-disordered breathing among children aged 3 to 5 years is 20% to 50%. Healthy sleep habits increase sleep duration and prevent behavioral sleep problems. Awareness of sleep-disordered breathing symptoms leads to its timely treatment. We designed a study that aims to empower families whose children are in early childhood programs with the knowledge and skills needed to obtain healthy sleep and to recognize a sleep problem. We used the social–ecological framework to guide individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy interventions. This study builds on the Sweet Dreamzzz, Inc, Early Childhood Sleep Education Program (ECSEP) in Head Start. A stepped-wedge–cluster randomized trial will test effects on child, parent, and classroom outcomes; a policy evaluation will assess the impact of knowledge-translation strategies. The study has 3 aims. The first is to adapt educational materials into multimedia formats and build the capacity of Head Start agencies to implement the study. The second aim is to enroll 540 parent–child dyads in a primary prevention trial of sleep health promotion in Head Start and to analyze effects on children’s sleep duration (primary outcome); parents’ knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior; and children’s sleep difficulties. The third aim is to conduct a secondary prevention feasibility study of screening and guidance for sleep problems. Secondary outcomes are changes in classroom behaviors and policies. Integrating sleep health literacy into early childhood programs could affect the life-course development of millions of children.
Highlights
Inadequate or poor quality sleep in early childhood impairs social–emotional and cognitive function via effects on the developing brain and increases obesity risk via hormonal and endocrine effects
Behavioral sleep problems are problems with falling asleep or staying asleep that correspond to diagnostic classifications of “sleep onset association,” “limit setting,” or “combined” types of behavioral insomnia [5]
Our study aligns with the national health literacy goal to “embed accurate, accessible and actionable health information in all early childhood programs, such as Head Start” [28]
Summary
Inadequate or poor quality sleep in early childhood impairs social–emotional and cognitive function via effects on the developing brain and increases obesity risk via hormonal and endocrine effects. The prevalence of short sleep duration, behavioral sleep problems, and sleep-disordered breathing among children aged 3 to 5 years is 20% to 50%. We designed a study that aims to empower families whose children are in early childhood programs with the knowledge and skills needed to obtain healthy sleep and to recognize a sleep problem. The second aim is to enroll 540 parent–child dyads in a primary prevention trial of sleep health promotion in Head Start and to analyze effects on children’s sleep duration (primary outcome); parents’ knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior; and children’s sleep difficulties. The most modifiable, prevalent, and consequential sleep problems in early childhood are insufficient sleep, behavioral sleep problems, and sleep-disordered breathing The latter 2 problems peak during the preschool years (children aged 3–5 y) and can contribute to insufficient sleep.
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