Child Obesity Article
Babies and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours each day are more likely to be overweight in preschool says a Harvard child obesity article.
Not surprising, television watching had an additional negative impact on top of the lack of sleep; those who watched more TV were more likely to be overweight as well.
Babies from ages 6 months to 2 years were studied, and their mothers were polled to get the results, and physical measurements were taken as well. About 900 total kids were studied, and almost 2/3 of those slept more than 12 hours a day (including maps) while 1/3 slept less.
Of those that slept more than 12 hours a day, about 7% were obese at age 3. Of those that slept less than 12 hours a day, 12% were obese by age 3. That's a 70% increase!
Add TV watching to the under 12 hour a day sleepers, and that 12% being obese by age 3 turned to 17%!
In all fairness though, this study was limitied to higher income families in Massachusetts.
Last year a study showed that each extra hour of sleep a 3rd grader had reduced the child's chances of being obese by 40% in the 6th grade!!!
The researchers suggested teaching infants to fall asleep on their own by putting them to bed when they are drowsy and not already asleep.
The results of this child obesity article can be explained by other studies showing that sleep deprived adults produce more ghrelin which is a hormone that encourages hunger and mitigates leptin production (which signals fullness in your body). Watching TV is a common sense thing.....sitting around burns less calories than being physically active, not to mention all the ads for food make you hungry!