Lack of sleep 'makes children fat'
Updated on 08 April 2008
Babies and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by the time they are aged three than children who sleep longer, according to research.
High levels of television viewing combined with less sleep raises the risk, so that children who sleep less than 12 hours and who view two hours or more of television a day have a 16% chance of becoming overweight by age three, the study found.
The findings are published in this month's issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a professional journal published by the American Medical Association.
The US-led study team identified 915 mother-infant pairs from a long-term study of the effects of diet and other lifestyle factors on maternal and child health.
Infant weight and measurements were taken at several visits up to three years of age. Mothers reported how many hours their child slept per day on average at six months, one year, and two years after giving birth.
Parents were also asked to report the average number of hours their children watched television on weekdays and at weekends.
Elsie Taveras, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School department of ambulatory care and prevention, and lead author for the study, said: "Mounting research suggests that decreased sleep time may be more hazardous to our health than we imagined. We are now learning that those hazardous effects are true even for young infants."
Matthew Gillman, Harvard Medical School associate professor, and director of the obesity prevention programme at the department of ambulatory care and prevention, said: "Although previous studies have shown a similar link between sleep restriction and overweight in older children, adolescents, and adults, this the first study to examine the connection in very young children."
The journal also published research showing children who sleep less may be more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression and aggression later in life.
The findings were based on research by Dr Alice Gregory of the University of London, and colleagues, who collected sleep data on 2,076 children who were aged four to 16 years old at the beginning of the study.
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