Abstract:

Introduction: Sleep and enough rest are the primary requirements of human^, s health and survival and the quality of sleep has a significant role in improving and maintaining health. Sleep habits are effective on the quality and quantity of sleep during childhood.

Objective: This study is carried out to identify the sleep habits of the students of primary schools.

Methods: This is a cross – sectional study. The research society included all school age children in the age range of 7 to 11, studying in districts 1 and 2 of Rasht city. Among these, 768 boy and girl students of primary schools were selected from both districts using cluster method. Data gathering tool was a questionnaire including two parts. The first part acquires personal and family information and the second part includes ordinary questions about sleep, answered by the mothers. To analyze the data, inferential and descriptive statistical methods were used.

Results: The research findings reveal that night – long insomnia is the most prevalent sleep habits with the point of 1.79 ± 0.43 and 94.7% always wake up during the night with perspiration and scream and they do not become calm easily. These are the most prevalent sleep behavior in children under study. There was also significant relation between the sleep habits of the children with their age, educational grade, sharing bedroom with a brother or sister, participating in sport classes, numbers of children in family, numbers of family members, parents^, educational level, parents^, occupation, and monthly income(P<0.01).

Conclusion: In consideration of the mean value and the general standard deviation calculated(1.55 ± 0.17) which is higher than the scale mean(1.5) and since high mean value implies improper sleep habits, it can be deducted that the sleep habits of children residing in Rasht is not proper.

Key words: Child, Habits, Pediatric Nursing, Sleep.