Mindfulness Yoga Research

    Good quality sleep is necessary for physical and mental health. In the case of children and adolescents sleep is a crucial pillar of physiological, psychological and emotional development (1). Despite the need to prioritize sleep to support health and normal development, a study found that only 15.6 percent of middle school students meet the optimal nine hours of sleep recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. 46 percent of students sleep less than seven hours per night (2 and 3).   Children in communities of low socioeconomic status experience even shorter sleep duration and poorer quality of sleep (4 and 5). As a result of this, they are more likely to have behavioral problems, poor academic performance, risky behaviors and obesity. Many factors play a role in the dysregulation of sleep in children of lower socioeconomic status such as social and family stress, food and housing insecurity, crowded and/or noisy environments.   Early interventions that teach children to cop