The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has responded to a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission report on sleep-related issues impacting children.
The June 30 letter from AASM, signed by AASM President Anita V. Shelgikar, M.D., MHPE, responded to “The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment” released by the commission in May.
“The AASM commends the commission for emphasizing that sleep is foundational to health and that American children — particularly adolescents — face ‘a nationwide sleep crisis,’” the letter said.
The letter noted that only about one in every four high school students gets adequate sleep on school nights, in part due to classes that start earlier than 8:30 a.m. Noting that circadian rhythms critically impact sleep health, the AASM said the commission’s findings “support the need for permanent standard time, which is closely aligned with the position of the sun, offering more sunlight in the morning and less sunlight at night. This natural alignment supports sleep, mood and metabolic health.”
The switch to Daylight Savings Time, the AASM letter said, interferes with circadian rhythms and extends darkness in the morning, when many kids are required to be in school.
The AASM also encouraged the MAHA commission “to support robust federal funding for the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, which coordinates sleep and circadian biology research throughout the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.”
And the AASM corrected the commission’s “misstatement” that said, “Adenotonsillectomy for children with sleep apnea … conferred no benefit in trials, suggesting the many, and often severe, harms of this surgery are unnecessary.”
“This statement was based on only one cited study of children with mild sleep apnea, and the study did find improvements in sleep and behavior after surgery,” the AASM letter said. “Adenotonsillectomy is recommended as the first-line treatment of children with obstructive sleep apnea and adenotonsillar hypertrophy. This common procedure has a low risk of serious adverse events, and research shows it has proven benefits, including improved breathing, sleep, behavior, learning and quality of life.”
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