In addition to improving your child’s cardiovascular health and school performance, physical activity helps kids fall asleep faster, according to a new study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood and reported on by WebMD.

For the sleep research, scientists recruited 591 7-year-olds from 871 newborn participants of a previous study. Researchers assessed the babies’ sleep problems and behavior patterns via questionnaires. Each child also wore activity monitors around his or her waist for 24 hours to measure sleep and physical activity level.

The scientists found that the average sleep latency—how long it takes a child to fall asleep—was 26 minutes. Researchers also noted that the higher the child’s activity rate was, the shorter the sleep latency tended to be.
 
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