The age-old saying "early to bed" may have more truth to it than we thought, particularly among kids. Adding to the growing evidence that early sleepers enjoy a range of health benefits including better mental well-being, researchers now found that an earlier bedtime in children is linked to greater microbial diversity in their gut.

Previous research has shown the importance of adequate sleep for brain health, physical growth, and maintaining healthy BMI levels in children. Now, the latest study published in Scientific Reports examined how sleep patterns influence gut microbiota, a crucial component of overall health that affects the risk of obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases.

The findings indicate that an early bedtime, particularly before 9:30 p.m., is a valuable habit to cultivate, as children who went to bed earlier had a higher abundance of beneficial gut bacteria and a lower presence of various harmful gut microbes.

The research team led by Chunmei Mao and his colleagues at the Gansu Rehabilitation Center Hospital in China came up with the findings based on analysis conducted on fecal samples from 88 healthy children aged 2 to 14 years.

The beneficial microorganisms identified among early sleepers included high levels of bacteria such as Akkermansia muciniphila, Holdemania filiformis, Firmicutes bacterium CAG-95, Streptococcus sp. A12, Weissella confusa, Clostridium sp. CAG-253, Alistipes finegoldii, and Eubacterium siraeum, along with the fungi CAG-83.

Further analysis at phylum and genus levels revealed that the early sleep group had a greater abundance of Verrucomicrobia, Akkermansia, Holdemania, and unclassified Firmicutes. Upon correlation analysis, two gut bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Alistipes finegoldii, were found to have a positive association with the time it took for children to fall asleep, while Clostridium sp. CAG-253 showed a negative correlation with sleep onset latency.

"The study concluded that there were notable variations in species diversity, abundance, and metabolic pathways in the gut flora between individuals who maintain a consistent sleep schedule and those with irregular sleep patterns. It emphasized the importance of sufficient sleep in promoting healthy cognitive and physical development in children. The outcomes of this examination offer a fresh perspective for exploring pharmacological approaches to address sleep disturbances in pediatric patients," the researchers wrote.

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