Growth hormone secretion and its relationship to my adolescent child's sleep

20:30% of children and adolescents have difficulty sleeping for many reasons. Sometimes the causes are physical such as diseases that affect sleep quality and psycho-emotional causes. Genetic and environmental factors also play a role among the factors affecting sleep quality and difficulty. Some cultures are not interested in setting specific hours for children's sleep, so the child grows up in a free environment and sleeps wherever he pleases, which has an impact on the body's biological clock and normal development.

But why is it important to sleep at specific hours and for a certain number of hours? And what does the sleep of a child or adolescent have to do with the development of his body? This article is concerned with the secretion of growth hormone in the adolescent child and its relationship to his sleep. So, if your child is in his teens or about to adolescence, we invite you to follow the lines of this article, which may answer some of your questions in this regard.

1-What is HGH?

Growth hormone is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, a small gland located in the brain. The function of growth hormone helps the growth, renewal and reproduction of the cells of the child's body as well as stimulates the growth of tissues, organs and bones of the body at different ages. It is also called human growth hormone and is built by anterior pituitary cells. Levels of growth secretion peak during adulthood. Growth hormone is released throughout the day, every 3:5 hours and increased in children during deep night sleep.

2. Signs of Growth Hormone Activity and Deficiency in the Child's Body

In the case of growth hormone activity we observe an increase in height in children and adolescents and an increase in muscle mass of clearly visible signs. As for the invisible signs, for example, providing the body's tissues with the energy necessary for building, stimulating protein building, breaking down fats, and stimulating the body's immunity to resist diseases.

In the case of lack of secretion of growth hormone, we notice short stature and stunting, and we notice the growth of the child normally until the age of two years, then growth begins to slow and sometimes stands completely. The child's development should be monitored with the specialist doctor periodically, especially when you notice that the child is growing slowly.

3. Physical development in adolescence

Puberty occurs as a result of changes that occur in the child's body, which usually begin at the age of 11 years and may be somewhat delayed in some. We note that there are individual differences between children at different stages of development and differences between females and males as well. At this stage, changes occur in the activity of hormones in the body, which causes many changes that clearly affect the mood of children. The development of the body of children between 15 and 17 years is complete, and this stage is closest to the length and age of puberty.

Your baby may reach a height and size that exceeds your size and have the physical ability to have children, even if he is psychologically no longer ready for such responsibility. Your child becomes older but still needs your support. Environment, nutrition, and other habits interfere with the timing of your child's development during adolescence.

Your child compares himself to other children in terms of developmental stages and is worried if he finds that he is relatively not the same. The child must understand that like other children he will go through these stages but not necessarily at the same speed and timing.

As mentioned, growth hormone is at its peak at that stage and therefore, children grow more quickly and show significant changes on their bodies from hair growth, boys' voice changes, and girls entering menstrual periods. All these changes motivate them to sleep for more hours than usual. We must allow them to do this because, as mentioned above, growth hormone is activated better during sleep and therefore, your teenage children need to sleep more.

4-What is the relationship between growth hormone and sleep?

HGH secretion is affected by many factors, including fatigue, fatigue, proper nutrition, physical activity and sleep. Do you think that children's growth only happens when they are awake? In fact, growth hormone is more active during children's sleep, especially bone growth. During the day, the growth plates of the children's body are pressed through the weight of the body and the various activities carried out by the children, but during sleep and in the lying position and reducing the weight of the body on the bones, the bones take the opportunity to elongate and grow. As a result, you notice that children sometimes wake up with a complaint of sore legs. Therefore, it becomes clear that children must sleep an appropriate number of hours for their age to protect them from slow or stopped growth and to grow normally appropriate to their age.

The danger lies not only in not installing proper hours of sleep for children in slow growth hormone work, but in the completion of the functions of other organs. Growth hormone stimulates the action of other hormones responsible for the functioning of various organs of the body. In the case of growth hormone insufficiency the secretion of those hormones is affected and therefore, other organs of the body are affected. The change in the level of other hormones also affects appetite, feeling hungry as well as feeling full. This manifests itself in harmful eating behaviors, such as excessive carbohydrate intake. This is evident in teenage children who stay up late for the early hours of the morning, where they overeat, especially carbohydrates, along with the emergence of other unhealthy habits.