Norms and Trends of Sleep Time Among US Children and Adolescents

Overview

Journal JAMA Pediatr

Publisher American Medical Association

Date 2013 Feb 14

PMID 23403646

Citations 62

Authors

Jessica A Williams

Frederick J Zimmerman

Janice F Bell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: To develop national sleep norms conditional on age and to examine stratification by sex, race/ethnicity, and changes over time.

Design: Secondary analysis of a panel survey.

Setting: The 3 waves (1997, 2002, and 2007) of the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a nationally representative survey.

Participants: Children from birth to 18 years with time-diary data were included: 2832 children in 1997, 2520 children in 2002, and 1424 children in 2007.

Main Exposure: Age.

Main Outcome Measures: Minutes of sleep for daytime and total sleep.

Results: The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the distribution of children's minutes of sleep conditional on age were estimated using a double-kernel estimator that incorporates sample weights. Total average sleep was estimated at more than 13 hours a day for infants, decreasing steadily throughout childhood and early adolescence, reaching about 9 hours a day for 14- to 18-year-olds. The estimated conditional percentiles were higher on weekends than on weekdays for older children. The conditional percentiles for the weekend sleep minutes were flatter with respect to age than the weekday sleep minutes. The interquartile ranges were greater for children younger than 6 years and for teenagers. The medians stratified by race/ethnicity and sex were similar for most ages. For different survey years, the estimated medians were within a few minutes of each other.

Conclusions: These estimates are consistent with the amount of sleep recommended for children, and no evidence was found of racial/ethnic differences.

Citing Articles

Patterns of physical activity in hunter-gatherer children compared with US and UK children.

Kretschmer L, Dyble M, Chaudhary N, Bann D, Salali G Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):1495.

PMID: 39885256 PMC: 11782480. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-81326-w.

Caffeine therapy in preterm infants: effects in 2nd and 3rd childhood.

Lopes J, de Almeida N, Andrade A, Prado V Rev Paul Pediatr. 2024; 43:e2024036.

PMID: 38985052 PMC: 11251447. DOI: 10.1590/1984-0462/2025/43/2024036.

The Role of Sleep for Age-Related Differences in Neurobehavioral Performance.

Tzischinsky O, Barel E Life (Basel). 2024; 14(4).

PMID: 38672766 PMC: 11051144. DOI: 10.3390/life14040496.

Daily Duration of Eating for Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Townley J, Northstone K, Hinton E, Hamilton-Shield J, Searle A, Leary S Nutrients. 2024; 16(7).

PMID: 38613026 PMC: 11013214. DOI: 10.3390/nu16070993.

Sleep Habits, Academic Performance and Health Behaviors of Adolescents in Southern Greece.

Alexopoulou C, Fountoulaki M, Papavasileiou A, Kondili E Healthcare (Basel). 2024; 12(7).

PMID: 38610197 PMC: 11011514. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12070775.

References

Russo P, Bruni O, Lucidi F, Ferri R, Violani C . Sleep habits and circadian preference in Italian children and adolescents. J Sleep Res. 2007; 16(2):163-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2007.00584.x. View

Royston P, Wright E . Goodness-of-fit statistics for age-specific reference intervals. Stat Med. 2000; 19(21):2943-62. DOI: 10.1002/1097-0258(20001115)19:21<2943::aid-sim559>3.0.co;2-5. View

Mindell J, Sadeh A, Wiegand B, How T, Goh D . Cross-cultural differences in infant and toddler sleep. Sleep Med. 2010; 11(3):274-80. DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2009.04.012. View

Sandberg J, Hofferth S . Changes in children's time with parents: a correction. Demography. 2005; 42(2):391-5. DOI: 10.1353/dem.2005.0017. View

Heim C, Nater U, Maloney E, Boneva R, Jones J, Reeves W . Childhood trauma and risk for chronic fatigue syndrome: association with neuroendocrine dysfunction. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009; 66(1):72-80. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.508. View

Sadeh A, Mindell J, Luedtke K, Wiegand B . Sleep and sleep ecology in the first 3 years: a web-based study. J Sleep Res. 2008; 18(1):60-73. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00699.x. View

Armstrong K, Quinn R, Dadds M . The sleep patterns of normal children. Med J Aust. 1994; 161(3):202-6. DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1994.tb127383.x. View

Ward T, Gay C, Alkon A, Anders T, Lee K . Nocturnal sleep and daytime nap behaviors in relation to salivary cortisol levels and temperament in preschool-age children attending child care. Biol Res Nurs. 2007; 9(3):244-53. DOI: 10.1177/1099800407310158. View

Roenneberg T, Wirz-Justice A, Merrow M . Life between clocks: daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes. J Biol Rhythms. 2003; 18(1):80-90. DOI: 10.1177/0748730402239679. View

10.

Roenneberg T, Kuehnle T, Juda M, Kantermann T, Allebrandt K, Gordijn M . Epidemiology of the human circadian clock. Sleep Med Rev. 2007; 11(6):429-38. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.005. View

11.

Ohayon M, Carskadon M, Guilleminault C, Vitiello M . Meta-analysis of quantitative sleep parameters from childhood to old age in healthy individuals: developing normative sleep values across the human lifespan. Sleep. 2004; 27(7):1255-73. DOI: 10.1093/sleep/27.7.1255. View

12.

Mindell J, Meltzer L, Carskadon M, Chervin R . Developmental aspects of sleep hygiene: findings from the 2004 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll. Sleep Med. 2009; 10(7):771-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2008.07.016. View

13.

Beebe D, Krivitzky L, Wells C, Wade S, Taylor H, Yeates K . Brief report: parental report of sleep behaviors following moderate or severe pediatric traumatic brain injury. J Pediatr Psychol. 2007; 32(7):845-50. PMC: 4280793. DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsm003. View

14.

Vandewater E, Bickham D, Lee J . Time well spent? Relating television use to children's free-time activities. Pediatrics. 2006; 117(2):e181-91. PMC: 2862999. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2005-0812. View

15.

Crowley S, Carskadon M . Modifications to weekend recovery sleep delay circadian phase in older adolescents. Chronobiol Int. 2010; 27(7):1469-92. PMC: 3415304. DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2010.503293. View

16.

Matricciani L, Olds T, Williams M . A review of evidence for the claim that children are sleeping less than in the past. Sleep. 2011; 34(5):651-9. PMC: 3079945. DOI: 10.1093/sleep/34.5.651. View

17.

Gupta N, Mueller W, Chan W, Meininger J . Is obesity associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents?. Am J Hum Biol. 2002; 14(6):762-8. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.10093. View

18.

WEISSBLUTH M, Poncher J, Given G, Schwab J, Mervis R, Rosenberg M . Sleep duration and television viewing. J Pediatr. 1981; 99(3):486-8. DOI: 10.1016/s0022-3476(81)80357-5. View

19.

Teng A, Bartle A, Sadeh A, Mindell J . Infant and toddler sleep in Australia and New Zealand. J Paediatr Child Health. 2011; 48(3):268-73. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02251.x. View

20.

van de Water A, Holmes A, Hurley D . Objective measurements of sleep for non-laboratory settings as alternatives to polysomnography--a systematic review. J Sleep Res. 2010; 20(1 Pt 2):183-200. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00814.x. View