Sleep characteristics in children in the isolated rural African-Brazilian descendant community of Furnas do Dionísio, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: REIMÃO,RUBENS
• Data de Publicação: 1999
• Outros Autores: SOUZA,JOSÉ CARLOS ROSA PIRES DE, GAUDIOSO,CARLOS EDUARDO VILELA, GUERRA,HELLEN DA COSTA, ALVES,ANDREA DAS CHAGAS, OLIVEIRA,JOLENE CRISTINA FERREIRA, GNOBIE,NILTON CEZAR ANTÔNIO, SILVÉRIO,DESIRÉE CORREA GUERRA
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X1999000400003
• topic: sleep; sleep habits; child; African-Brazilian; Negro; Black; Furnas do Dionísio; Mato Grosso do Sul

Developmental and cultural factors affect sleep habits in childhood. The objective of this research was to determine sleep habits of children in the isolated rural African-Brazilian community of Furnas do Dionísio, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The members of this community are closely related descendants of the ex-slave Dionísio, and remained in relative geographical isolation for about a century. Sleep characteristics of 55 children (35M; 20F), 2 to 10 year olds, were evaluated in interviews with their mothers. The results showed that cosleeping, in the same bed with family members, was present in 80.0% of the 2-3 year olds; decreasing to 25.0% of the 8-10 year olds. Only 5.4% of the children slept alone in their own bedroom. Mean number of persons per bedroom was 2.8. Only 7.0% of the bedrooms had TV; 98.1% slept in silence. The data obtained support the need to weigh cultural factors influence on sleep.