Article content

A surprising new Canadian study suggests 70 per cent of children have trouble settling into what should come naturally — sleep.

And further, about 30 per cent of parents struggling with this problem give their kids over-the-counter medications such as melatonin, a so-called “magic pill” with unknown long-term effects.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Most Canadian kids hurt by lack of sleep, and one-third of their parents are drugging them before bed: study Back to video

University of B.C. researcher and nursing school professor Wendy Hall — who has studied child sleep for 10 years — says she wasn’t surprised by the results of the study.

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” Hall said. “We have lots of studies linking (child sleep deprivation) to difficulty learning, behavioural problems, and even increased risk of obesity.”

I think this is the tip of the iceberg

[np_storybar title=”How to help your kids sleep” link=””]

Here are sleep-improvement tips from University of B.C. nursing school Prof. Wendy Hall:

1. Have a regular bedtime. Children who fall asleep before 9 p.m. tend to fall asleep faster and for longer and deeper durations.