How to Prevent Obesity in Children?

One of the factors closely linked with obesity threat is sleep pattern – this is the conclusion arrived at by specialists from the University of Chicago. They found that children who get ample sleep regularly and enjoy getting up later on weekends have less risk to gain excess weight or have metabolic dysfunctions.

The study that embraced more than 300 children aged from 4 to 10 investigated the interrelations of sleep schedules and Body Mass Indexes (BMI) of pre-teens. The results, published in the Pediatrics journal, show that the recommended amount of sleep places children at the bottom of the obesity risk scale. On the other hand, those who have an irregular sleep pattern or sleeping problems run the risk of being overweight by 4.4 times.

Sleep deprivation is fraught with other health threats like abnormal levels of cholesterol, insulin and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein; these factors can later raise the possibility of developing cardiovascular diseases or type 2 diabetes.

Scientists requested that parents allow their children get as much sleep as they want and stay in bed as long as they want during weekends. The recommended 9.5 hours per night was found to correlate with the healthiest metabolism.

Moreover, when children who get insufficient sleep make up for the deprivation on weekends or during holidays, it can lower the risk of growing up overweight by about 3 times. But catching up on missed sleep is a longer process where one has to put in practically the complete amount of sleep lost during weekdays.

Source of the image: Photl.