Posts Tagged ‘Adults’
Tanning salons need regulations
Another case of a minor being burned in an unmanned tanning salon made news today. This time, the child was 10 years old. Yes, there was a sign on the door saying “Strictly over 16s, only”. Whoever thought that would keep out younger kids have no understanding of a child’s mind.
A case earlier in the year involving a 14 year old highlighted the importance of supervision at these salons. However, the owners there had insisted that the salons were manned. This new case goes to show that either these people are paying lip service or they are completely unaware of what their employees do.
Children may hear horror stories, but they don’t listen until it’s happened to them. Sometimes, even that is not enough to change their behaviour. The same can be said of adults.
How many more injuries of this nature must we tolerate before we decide that enough is enough? If the tanning industry cannot ensure safety to children, then the government needs to step in and act. Salons should be manned and young children will need to prove that they are old enough to enter. Simply taking their word for it is not adequate. In addition, the employee needs to supervise use to prevent any burns to anyone.
It is a sad state of this society that we’ve created an image of tan as beautiful, to the extent that even a 10-year old wants a tan. Haven’t we learned from the stories of anorexic and bulimic children who try to be skinny as a result of the super-thin models? Now we’ll have horror stories of children being badly burned and developing serious skin problems.
Sleep deprivation linked to hyperactivity in children
It is a well-known fact that sleep deprivation affects your mood. So the recent Finnish study that reported children’s behaviour worsened with inadequate sleep should come as a no-brainer. However, it made news because most reports on sleep focused on adults.
But, now we know better. Children who do not get enough sleep may not show signs of sleepiness, but often they do. However, they may be very irritable and hyperactive, instead. Some, for those unfortunate parents, may show all these signs. It is difficult for most parents to gauge the amount of sleep their children are getting. Just because they’ve sent their children to bed does not mean that child fell asleep. Some children may have difficulty falling asleep while others purposely stay awake to do something else. The consequences are usually the same. Yet, it may be difficult to persuade children that if they had enough sleep, they would feel better.
The children in the Finnish study did not have ADHD, but when they had less than 8 hours of sleep, they began to display symptoms of ADHD. Perhaps, there is a connection somehow. It seems that more and more children are being diagnosed with ADHD recently. Many are treated; some may be inappropriately treated. Though the studies showed that 8 hours was the threshold for sleep adequacy, experts warn that not all children need 8 hours. The Healthy Blogger would agree. Some may need much more. On the other hand, some may function very well with less. This is less usual and would probably be more appropriate for older children. The same criteria can be applied to adults. Most require 8 hours, some may do with less, some will require more. And, usually the elderly do better with frequent short spurts of sleep.
However you look at it, we all need adequate sleep. How much is adequate is individualised. You can always tell when you’ve not had enough. Now, you know how to spot it in children as well.
