Children’s hospital builds sleep app

A free app to improve children’s sleep has been launched by doctors at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London.

伦敦埃维莉娜儿童医院的医生们发布了一款帮助儿童提高睡眠质量的免费手机软件。

They think it will help the two million parents in the UK who express concern about their child’s sleep and ease pressure on the NHS.

他们认为这个软件可以帮助英国两百万的家长，让他们不用再担心孩子的睡眠问题，减轻国民医疗服务系统的压力。

Experts said good sleep was vital for a child’s development and behaviour.

专家们说良好的睡眠对孩子的成长和行为举止至关重要。

Paul Gringras, a professor of children’s sleep medicine at the hospital, said "massive" waiting lists mean doctors could see "only the tip of the iceberg".

Paul Gringras是儿童医院儿童睡眠医学领域的专家，他说每天排队看病的人太多，医生所能解决的问题只是“冰山一角”。

So the hospital developed an app that gives personalised advice to parents of 0-16 year-olds to tackle the different sleeping problems that crop up at different ages.

所以医院推出了手机应用软件，给0-16岁孩子的家长提供量身定制的建议，解决不同年龄段出现的各异睡眠问题。

Initial advice starts after entering details about bedtimes, where the child falls asleep, how much screen time they have, and caffeinated drinks consumption.

在了解了孩子们的睡觉时间，睡觉地点，看电视时长，含咖啡因饮料的摄取量等细节后，先给予家长们初步建议和指导。

After five days of recording a child’s sleep habits, such as night-waking and bedtimes, the full personalised service kicks in.

在记录五天孩子的睡眠习惯（半夜醒来，睡觉时间等）之后，会提供全面的量身定制的指导服务。

"Hopefully they are sleeping in the normal range, but if they’re outside that then it advises parents," Prof Gringras told the BBC News website.

“希望他们的睡眠都在合理范围内，如果超过范围，应用软件就会给家长一些建议。”Gringras教授在接受BBC新闻网站采访时如是说。

"Take a five-year-old who suddenly is waking up every night screaming, doesn’t recognise parents and pushes them away. The app would say it is like a night terror and will happen in 10% of children in this age range and they will grow out of it, but they can also try a technique called scheduled waking half an hour after they have gone to bed."

以一个五岁小孩为例。孩子突然每天晚上惊醒尖叫，不认识父母，将他们拒之门外。应用软件就会分析，这属于夜惊，这个年龄段的孩子中10%会有这样的问题。他们长大后就会没事。但是也有方法缓解这一症状，即孩子上床睡觉前带他散步半小时。

In another scenario, it would advise parents of teenagers unable to sleep until really late at night, and are then too tired for school, that exercise in the afternoon is as powerful as any drug for promoting sleep.

另一方面，应用软件建议父母不要让孩子太晚睡觉，否则第二天上学会感觉疲惫。下午进行锻炼可以改善睡眠质量，这比吃任何药都管用。

"These are not annoying daily tips, it’s tailored advice," he added.

教授补充说：“应用软件提供的不是每天烦人的睡眠秘诀，而是量身定制的指导建议。”

The app has been designed to reduce pressures on the health service rather than make money.

这一软件的目的在于减轻医疗服务系统的压力，而非为了盈利。

It is currently available free on iOS. Android and Windows versions will follow.

目前已经有iOS系统的免费版本。安卓和Windows系统的版本随后也会推出。

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来源:China Daily 爱语吧作者:Volia