Introduction
Sleep is recognized as a major contributing factor to physical and
mental health in children and adolescents
[1,2]
. It is generally believed that sleep is beneficial not only for energy conservation,
neuronal recuperation, and brain plasticity, which are linked to
daytime brain functioning and body homeostasis, but also for growth
and cognitive and psychological development
[3–7]
.
It has been demonstrated that despite the need for sleep in children and adolescents, sleep duration decreases with age and, as a
result, sleep debt increases with age
[8–14]
. Therefore, the most
marked reductions in sleep duration and the highest prevalence of