A former colleague told me not long ago that she was surprised when she heard I had a daughter because she'd never seen me as "a reproductive man." I laughed. It didn't seem like an insult, but rather a description. And, in fact, that possibility had always been there. The idea of ​​having children amused me, but until recently it was an abstract and distant concept.

Raising a child is often considered one of the most important tasks in social development. Raising young children and living with teenagers can be a source of stress. Situations such as a chaotic home or a demanding child, along with deeper factors like being a single parent or having limited financial resources, can lead families to experience demands that exceed their capacity. Several studies, as explained by Gonzalo Pin Arboledas, an expert in sleep disorders medicine at the San Juan de Dios School of Health, have shown that positive family behaviors (such as warmth and responsiveness) contribute to the development of positive behavior in children, while negative behaviors (such as hyperreactivity) are detrimental. Stressed and sleep-deprived parents, therefore, tend to use harsher and less positive parenting styles. How does lack of sleep affect metabolism?

Maternal sleep problems (caused by their children's poor sleep quality) are linked to higher levels of dysfunctional parenting. This is especially significant for mothers who have more difficulty falling asleep. In fact, adults living with a child or teenager who don't sleep well may be more likely to suffer various metabolic disorders in the medium or long term.

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