《中英對照讀新聞》Afternoon nap ’impairs child’s mental development’ 午睡有害孩童的心理發展

◎鄭寺音

It is a time hard-pressed parents look forward to - their child’s afternoon nap.

這是工作繁重的父母期待的一段時間─他們孩子的午睡時間。

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But getting youngsters to nod off during the day could lead to sleep problems and impair mental development, research suggests.

但研究顯示，讓小孩子在白天打個盹，可能導致睡眠問題，有害心理發展。

Children who doze while their peers are bright-eyed had less sleep during the night and performed less well in puzzles designed to test their planning and organisational skills, according to preliminary studies.

根據初步研究顯示，在同儕睜眼醒著時睡午覺的孩童，晚間睡得比較少，在測試計畫與組織能力的拼圖測驗中，表現也比較不好。

Dr. John Harsh and colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi asked the parents of 738 children aged two and above about their children’s sleeping habits. Children who took long daytime naps fell asleep at night an average of 39 minutes later.

南密西西比大學的哈許博士與同僚，詢問孩子已經兩歲以上的738名父母，關於他們小孩的睡眠習慣。白天午睡時間長的小孩，晚上睡著的時間平均晚了39分鐘。

Study author Dr. Alyssa Cairns said： "Napping children not only had a difficult time getting to bed, they had a harder time falling asleep, and they had a harder time getting up in the morning."

研究作者開倫斯博士說：「打盹的小孩不僅很難上床睡覺，入睡也有困難，早上起床也比較爬不起來。」

新聞辭典

impair︰損害、損傷。例句：Poor food impaired her health.（粗劣的食物損害了她的健康。）

nod off ︰打盹，與doze off意思相同。

have a difficult（hard） time Ving︰做…有困難。例句：I had a hard time getting to understand what he meant.（我費了好一番功夫，才了解他的意思。）