Mental health literacy mediates associations of self rated health and chronic disease status with anxiety and depression in Chinese residents.

Health care costs a bundle in the USA, and sleep disorders in children contribute 2.88 billion dollars annually to this total, this is significantly more than children without sleep disorders, according to the article by Carney et al. recently published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine []. Studies completed in Israel in the early 2000s highlighted the impact of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on health care utilization and also documented the reduction in health care expenditures following treatment [, ]. This may be true for all pediatric sleep disorders. The indirect costs of sleep disorders are not captured in the study by Carney et al., such as decreased time in school, impaired quality of life, and missed work by parents. Over-the-counter medication expenditures were also not captured. The survey data included early years of the COVID-19 pandemic which may have been a barrier to seeking health care. Despite these limitations, this study emphasizes the importance of recognizing and treating, curing, or managing sleep disorders in individual children to reduce health care expenditures. In parallel, this should optimize quality of life, reduce the burden of illness and the risk of co-morbidities, improve school attendance, and allow parents to work, care for their family, and themselves. We must also strive to support sleep health in society to create an environment that does not enable sleep disorders. Examples include age-appropriate school start times, help for children and parents to manage the conflict between screen time and bedtime, and decreasing the risk of drowsy driving in teens. We must extol the benefits of healthy sleep for all domains of well-being. The study by Carney and colleagues utilized the Medical Expenditures Panes Survey (2017–2022) administered by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The survey includes households and their respective medical providers (clinics, hospitals, home health, and pharmacies) and a sample of insurance plans offered by employers (). Adjustments were made to account for co-variates and co-morbidities that facilitate or impede accessing health care or impact the need, or perceived need for health care, respectively. The use of a national database collected by the government is worth highlighting. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is promoting open data access in response to the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act of 2018. This is outlined in the , Version 1.1, 12/22/20225. HHS is creating metadata standards and inventories with a stated goal to “responsibly unleash the power of HHS data, deliver improved services through data, and maximize the nation’s return on its investment in data to benefit all Americans.” This process is in development with a three-year timeline and provides opportunities to further explore the landscape of children’s health, including sleep disorders. Beyond documenting the impacts of pediatric sleep disorders, what are the avenues for reducing the cost to individuals and society and, more importantly, improving health outcomes for children? Explore the causes and management of pediatric sleep disorders through new and existing data. It is a hopeful sign that the HHS Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report on children’s well-being mentions sleep health several times, mainly in the context of screen time competing for sleep time. We need interventions for pediatric insomnia, especially for children with special needs such as autism where even evidence-based behavioral interventions can fall short. Stay up to date on activities and opportunities sponsored by the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research by subscribing to the listserv .