The effects of lack of sleep start at a young age - not getting enough Zzzs could determine your kids’ weight. A new report finds infants and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by age three than children who sleep longer. And if they sleep less than 12 hours plus watch TV two or more hours a day, they have a 16 percent chance of becoming overweight by age three.
Other studies have shown a similar link between lack of sleep and being overweight in older children, adolescents, and adults, but this one finds the connection in very young children.
Add in the TV factor, and your kids really have an uphill battle.
“Getting enough sleep is becoming more and more difficult with TV, Internet, and video games in the rooms where children sleep,” says lead author, Elsie Taveras, M.D., Harvard Medical School.
Taveras suggests parents remove televisions from children’s bedrooms to help them get more sleep… and better quality Zzz’s, too.
You can see the full study in the April 2008 issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
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Tags: Children, obesity, overweight, overweight children, overweight kids, sleep
