Sleep Counseling for Children and Adolescents - Why Healthy Sleep Should Be an Important Topic from an Early Age

The earlier we educate children and adolescents about sleep and its functions, the better we can prevent and remedy sleep problems. This article presents the health psychology project "School health promotion on sleep and health", which was initiated in 2020 by the University of Salzburg in cooperation with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund. This project aims to take the knowledge gathered in the sleep laboratory directly to schools and to integrate it into the everyday life of pupils and teachers by means of workshops. Knowledge transfer and prevention are also the focus of the book Genial im Schlaf ("genious in sleep") published by edition Riedenburg, which serves as the basis for the school project. It is intended to sensitize pupils about healthy sleeping behavior and to offer advice in case of sleep problems.