Sleepless children face weight problems
Friday May 27th, 2011
Young children risk becoming overweight by the age of seven if they do not get enough sleep, a study has claimed.
The
conclusion comes from research in New Zealand that was undertaken to see
if reduced sleep is associated with differences in body composition and
the risk of becoming overweight in young children.
A total of 244 children took part in The Family Lifestyle, Activity, Movement and Eating (FLAME) study in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Each child’s weight, height, BMI, and body composition were measured every six months from three to seven years of age.
Children’s physical activity levels were measured by accelerometry (a belt that carried a device to monitor body movement) and questionnaires were also filled in about their diet at three, four and five years.
Other factors, such as birth weight, mothers’ education, income, BMI, smoking during pregnancy and ethnicity were also recorded because of known links with BMI in children.
The results, published in the British Medical Journal Online, found that average sleep duration for youngsters aged three to five was about 11 hours per day.
Each additional hour of sleep per night was associated with a reduction in BMI of 0.49 and a 61 per cent reduction in the risk of being overweight or obese at seven. In a child of average height, this corresponds to a difference of 0.7kg body weight.
The reductions in BMI were due to differences in fat mass, which suggested that poor sleep has negative effects on body composition, claim the researchers.
The study was welcomed by sleep experts Professor Francesco Cappuccio and Associate Professor Michelle Miller from the University of Warwick.
Writing an accompanying editorial, they said not only may prolonged lack of sleep be a direct contributor of overweight and obesity in children, it could also have other effects on long term health.
British Medical Journal May 27 2011
Tags: Australia | Child Health | Diet & Food | Fitness
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