Everyone knows that diet and exercise are very effective ways to keep childhood obesity at bay. The latest research indicates that getting kids to go to bed earlier can help too. A study done by the University of Montreal showed that more than 25% of children who slept less than 10 hours a night were overweight by age 6, as compared to 15% who got 10 hours of sleep and only 10% who slept 11 hours. The difference may be from an increase in the production of a hormone that triggers appetite and a decrease in the hormone that decreases food intake – both resulting from loss of sleep. The good news for adults is that similar results were found in them as well.
Also, researchers in a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study found that kids who are overweight are possibly at an increased risk for chronic headaches. It was found that as kids lost weight, they came down with fewer headaches.
So what does a parent need to do? Well, first of all, urge your kids to get active by riding their bikes or getting involved in sports. As long as they are kept busy and active during the day, they’ll definitely be more ready to hit the sack at bedtime. Once they are in the habit of going to bed at a certain hour, they will be more tired and ready to go to bed at that time because their internal clock has changed.
0 Responses to “Get kids to bed earlier, to ward off obesity”
Leave a Reply