Public Health Plan Outline

      Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and well-being. Sleep is a basic requirement for infant, child, and adolescent health and development. Sleep loss and untreated sleep disorders influence basic patterns of behavior that negatively affect family health and interpersonal relationships. Fatigue and sleepiness can reduce productivity and increase the chance for mishaps such as medical errors and motor vehicle or industrial accidents.

Adequate sleep is necessary to:

• Fight off infection

• Support the metabolism of sugar to prevent diabetes

• Perform well in school

• Work effectively and safely (HealthyPeople.gov)

In reality, there isn’t much you can do to change the sleep habits of an adult, besides provide them with information on why sleep is so important, but- with that being said- I know that parents are always looking to better their children’s health and will go above and beyond for them- will even feed their children healthier then they feed themselves. Also, when you have good sleeping habits as a child, they usually follow you into adult hood- so, that is why I would like to work with the public school systems to promote and educate children and their parents on the importance of healthy sleep.

Reference:

Emerson M. Wickwire, P. (n.d.). sleepreviewmag.com. Retrieved from http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2014/12/financial-costs-insomnia/

HealthyPeople.gov. (n.d.). HealthyPeople.gov. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/sleep-health