Posted on March 5, 2001 at 5:04 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Children who do not get enough sleep are at increased risk for injury, according to a recent study led by Dr. Fabio Barbone, associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Details of the study appear in the February 2001 issue of Pediatrics.

“We all know that children should get enough sleep at night and should take naps during the day, but this is the first study to look at what can happen if children don’t get enough sleep,” Barbone says. “We found that children who don’t get enough sleep are at significantly greater risk for injuries. Boys between the ages of 3 to 5 seem to be at particular risk.”

The study reports that boys who slept less than 10 hours a night suffered 133 percent more injuries than those who got more sleep. Also, most injuries occurred between 4 p.m. and midnight. “We found that children who have been awake for at least eight hours, without sleep or a nap, are four times more likely to suffer an injury,” Barbone says.

The study investigated the sleep patterns of 292 children, ages birth to 15, seen by physicians at the Children’s Emergency Center of Udine in Italy. Interviews with parents and children provided researchers with information about the children’s sleep habits prior to the injury. “In most cases, children had slept less than 10 hours the night before or had skipped their naps,” Barbone says.

Falls accounted for most injuries, followed by knocks and cycling accidents. “Most of the children weren’t doing anything particularly dangerous,” Barbone says.

"And although their injuries were serious enough to require medical attention, most were treated and released from the hospital.”

Findings suggest new tactics for injury prevention among children.

“Parents and child care providers should not neglect the importance of adequate nighttime sleep and daytime naps to prevent injuries among children, especially younger children,” Barbone says.

“Bedtime rules are important and should be consistently applied.”

Other researchers who collaborated on the study are Dr. Francesca Valent, a graduate student with the department of epidemiology at UAB, and Dr. Silvio Brusaferro, with the department of epidemiology at the University of Udine in Italy.

NOTE: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a separate, independent campus from the University of Alabama, which is located in Tuscaloosa. Please use the University of Alabama at Birmingham on first reference and UAB on second reference.