Feature Story

May 2, 2007

Children from Low Income Families More Likely to Have Sleep Problems

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Children from low income families have more sleep problems than children from middle class families, potentially impacting their health and performance at school, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 28 -- May 5, 2007.

The study compared the sleeping habits of 64 healthy inner city children, who were African American and Hispanic, to the sleeping patterns of children from middle class, Caucasian families.

"While these results aren't surprising, they need to be followed up with a study involving a larger number of children since sleeping problems can have a negative impact on a child's health and may hinder a child's performance at school," said study author Anuj Chawla, MS, with Tulane University's School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA.

The study was performed at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, under the supervision of Sanjeev Kothare, MD, member of the American Academy of Neurology.

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