Post-Covid, sleep deprivation is emerging as the new pandemic. A rapidly multiplying number of millennial parents, Gen Z, the young and old are all to a greater or lesser extent suffering this 21st century lifestyle malady. Compulsion to work hard and play hard in the age of the smartphone, social media, and OTT revolutions, has reduced the duration and quality of sleep for adults and children. A 2019 study conducted by Fitbit, a US-based health and fitness tech company, ranks India as the world’s second most sleep-deprived country, after Japan. A more recent study by Wakefit.co, a Bengaluru-based sleep and home solutions provider, says that 25 percent of Indians “think they have insomnia” with 36 percent identifying time spent on digital devices as the prime cause.
Fortunately, simultaneously there’s rising public awareness of the critical importance of getting a good night’s rest every night for maintaining physical and mental well-being and workplace productivity. Moreover there’s convergence of opinion among medical practitioners and the newly emergent tribe of wellness professionals that sleep deprivation prompts obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. As a result a whole new sleep wellness industry has crystalized as business tycoons and professionals, homemakers and young children turn to sleep specialists and wellness gurus for sleep improvement advice and therapy. This is testified by the exponential growth of the sleep aids market — comprising drugs, medical devices and mattress industries — which rakes in a massive $79.85 billion (Rs.548,652 crore) per year.
In our cover story this month we beam a searchlight on this new epidemic with special focus on the rising incidence of sleep deprivation and disturbance among children and adolescents which could assume pandemic proportions. Medical practitioners, well-being gurus and sleep industry professionals are waking to the connection between sleep deprivation and falling grades and physical and mental health deterioration of children who are likely to carry this malady into adulthood. They warn parents not to neglect their duty to inculcate good sleep habits in children from young age to ensure that they aren’t deprived the best nourishment of life’s feast.
There are many other interesting features in this issue. Among them: a checklist to monitor children’s speech and language progress; a non-tech activities guide to reduce children’s digital screen time and yogasanas to boost their immunity. Also check out the special essay advising how and when to start teaching children financial literacy. And now that a long, hot summer is imminent, check out the advisory on how to ensure your little ones are protected against dehydration and sunstroke.
