More Proof that Exercise Helps You Sleep

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

22 Sep 2009 01:25 PM

This message couldn't come at a better time for me: I've been having a hard time falling asleep. Bedtime comes and I'm tired (or so I think) -- but then I sit there staring at the ceiling for a good hour before shuffling off to snoozeland.

Maybe more exercise is the answer.

It certainly works for kids. A new study from the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that the more activity kids get, the faster they fall asleep at night. And the converse is true, too: the more sedentary a child is, the longer it takes them to fall asleep at bedtime.

Nearly six hundred seven-year-olds took part in the study. The children wore monitors to record activity during a twenty-four hour period. On average, a child took twenty-six minutes to fall asleep after going to bed. However, the more active a child was during the way, the faster they fell asleep. Just one hour of vigorous activity shaved six minutes off the falling asleep time. Every hour spent sitting around added three minutes to the falling asleep time.

The average child in the study was vigorously active (think: running) for forty-three minutes out of the entire day. And it wasn't necessarily continuous activity, either -- the way an adult does cardio workouts. Stop and go activity was more the norm.

Even better news? The children who took less time to get to sleep (because of activity) stayed asleep longer, too.

Here's hoping that the results hold true for adults, too! I'll be honest -- even when I do exercise, it's not necessarily vigorous. That's not really a word I'd use to describe my efforts!

According to the study authors, one in six parents report that their child has trouble falling asleep. If something as simple and easy as exercise can fix that, I think that's great! Exercise isn't just good for your heart and your weight... it's good for your brain, too.

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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