Child's Sleep—Effect of Certain Foods and Beverages on Sleep Motility

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A study was made of 24 normal children to determine the effect of various types of evening meals and various beverages on sleep. The amt. of body movement made by a child was recorded electrically throughout the 9 hrs. spent in bed. Each child''s normal was detd. under suitable conditions. A child has a very definite individual sleep pattern, which does not change except with disease, with the seasons, and when subjected to various experimental conditions. The drinking of 6 ounces of warm milk at bed-time seemed to produce more restful sleep than when no milk was taken. Of several other beverages tested none seemed to affect sleep considerably. The ingestion of 6 oz. of a beverage containing [image] grain (0.03887 gm.) of caffeine and 20 gm. sucrose proved to be identical in effect with 6 oz. of orange juice containing the same amount of sucrose. Eating of a heavy evening meal by children between the ages of 9 and 14 years produced marked restlessness which often continued throughout the night. The sleep pattern after the eating of a very light evening meal differed in no respect from that observed after a child had eaten its usual normal supper.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: