I have a problem with going to bed at night, which means I’m usually pretty interested in any sleep-realted study.
So I was all over an article that Anahad O’Connor at The New York Times recently wrote about the connection between activity and sleep latency in children, Really? The Claim: Exercise More During the Day, and You Will Sleep Better at Night.
Apparently a longitudnal study was published this year that shows a correlation between a child’s activity during the day and how long it takes to fall asleep at night.
The findings: It takes an extra three minutes for kids to fall asleep, per every hour of sedentary activity during the day. This can lead us to believe that physical activity leads to better sleep.
So how do you get more physical activity? Here are some things I’ve started doing:
Walk more — Walking is easy and free. When it’s nice outside, I walk around the neighborhood with my kids. When I go to work everyday, I walk from my car to the office. I even like to get up and just wonder around the office throughout the day. The point is to just get up move around.
Play more — My daughter is three now and can play games inside like hide and seek and tag. We also like to play loud music and dance around together. Follow the leader is an easy game to play, and we can end up spending a good half hour marching around the kitchen table together to the funky beat.
Exercise more — This may sound offputting but it doesn’t have to be hard work. I now spend 30-45 minutes three times a week watching TV on an eliptical machine. I’ve found that watching football, basketball or even MMA while being active makes it easy to keep going psycologically.
Those are my tips. What are yours? How do you stay active during the day to fall asleep easier at night?
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