Jeremy Ports #7

The Claim: Exercise More During the Day, and You Will Sleep Better at Night[NYTimes]
THE FACTS It has long been said that regular physical activity and better sleep go hand in hand. Burn more energy during the day, the thinking goes, and you will be more tired at night.
More Really? ColumnsBut only recently have scientists sought to find out precisely to what extent. One extensive study published this year looked for answers by having healthy children wear actigraphs — devices that measure movement — and then seeing whether more movement and activity during the day meant improved sleep at night. The results should be particularly enlightening to parents.

The study found that sleep onset latency — the time it takes to fall asleep once in bed — ranged from as little as roughly 10 minutes for some children to more than 40 minutes for others. But physical activity during the day and sleep onset at night were closely linked: every hour of sedentary activity during the day resulted in an additional three minutes in the time it took to fall asleep at night. And the children who fell asleep faster ultimately slept longer, getting an extra hour of sleep for every 10-minute reduction in the time it took them to drift off.

This may give a false sense of knowledge of isomnia. This article is basically pointing all fingers at the lack of exercise for the main cause of sleepless nights. I conducted a thesis on insomnia and although exercise does have a little to do with insomnia, typically it is caused by more in depth things. Such as if you watch tv while on your bed with now intent on falling alseep this can actually cause you to not be able to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. I think they need to include more of these variables to relay the knowledge that they already have.