Lack Of Sleep May Lead To Fatter Kids

(CBS/AP)  Now there's another reason to get children to bed early: More sleep might lower their risk of becoming obese.

Researchers have found that every additional hour per night a third-grader spends sleeping reduces the child's chances of being obese in sixth grade by 40 percent. Third graders are usually around 8 or 9 years old; sixth graders are around 11 or 12.

The less sleep they got, the more likely the children were to be obese in sixth grade, no matter what the child's weight was in third grade, said Dr. Julie Lumeng of the University of Michigan, who led the research.

If there was a magic number for the third-graders, it was nine hours, 45 minutes of sleep. Sleeping more than that lowered the risk significantly.

The study gives parents one more reason to enforce bedtimes, restrict caffeine and yank the TV from the bedroom. The study appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

"Specifically for every hour of sleep that you get in third grade, every additional hour, your risk of obesity in sixth grade decreases by 40 percent," the study's lead author, Dr. Julie Lumeng, told CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

Lack of sleep plays havoc with two hormones that are the "yin and yang of appetite regulation," said endocrinologist Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the new study.

In experiments by Van Cauter and others, sleep-deprived adults produced more ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone that signals fullness.

Another explanation: Tired kids are less likely to exercise and more likely to sit on the couch and eat cookies, Lumeng said.

Dr. Stephen Sheldon, director of sleep medicine at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, praised the study and called for more research. He said children's sleep may be disturbed by breathing problems - some caused by overweight, such as sleep apnea, and some caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids.

"I'm not so sure we have enough information yet on cause and effect," said Sheldon, who was not involved in the study.

Tired kids face a host of other problems, Hughes reports. They're less likely to exercise and "can become hyperactive and can have difficulty attending to things," Dr. Matthew R. Ebben from the Sleep Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell told CBS News.

Researchers used data from an existing federal study and focused on 785 children with complete information on sleep, and height and weight in the third grade and sixth grade. The children lived in 10 U.S. cities.

Mothers were asked: "How much sleep does your child get each day (including naps)?" On average, the third-graders got about 9½ hours sleep, but some slept as little as seven hours and others as much as 12 hours.

Of the children who slept 10 to 12 hours a day, about 12 percent were obese by sixth grade. Many more - 22 percent - were obese in sixth grade of those who slept less than nine hours a day.

The researchers took into account other risk factors for obesity, such as the children's body mass index in third grade, and still found the link between less sleep in third grade and obesity in sixth grade. They acknowledged that factors they did not account for, such as parents' weight or behavior, may have contributed to the risk.

Jodi Mindell of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Sleep Center noted there are plenty of other reasons for encouraging good sleep habits, such as success in school.

"I don't want parents to think, 'If I get her to sleep, she's not going to be overweight,"' Mindell said. "I think this is a small piece in the picture."

[rf35]

Yes, yes, yes! If you want your child to sleep more, then make sure he or she is engaged in more physical activities. Do these with your child. The activity will be good for both parents and children. Time together and (gasp, the horror) you''ll actually know what your child is doing! You''ll both benifit from the physical activity and the child will be tired enough to sleep when bedtime rolls around. My grandfather used to take me on long walks with him all the time. I think it helped in many ways and promoted good habits that are with me to this day.

[usayesterday]

The late 80''s to early 90s were like the transition years for kids migrating indoors for the majority of their fun and entertainment.

One ironic twist of childhood between the two ages (mentioned above)...

...before the 80s, punishment meant being sent to your room and being prevented from going outside to play.

Now...

...some childrens'' bedrooms have game consoles, computers, TVs, and in some cases, full home theater systems.

These days, punishment would be to send your kid outside without any electronic "toys", rather than to their room.

[nikkicatt1]

Turn off the TV, computer, game console, etc and GO PLAY!!! Since the invention of AC, kids do not go outside anymore. Lack of sleep comes from unstructured living. Please take your kid outside and play ball, ride a bicycle - anything to exercise. Then put your kids to bed - to sleep. Not watch TV or text your friends - just sleep.

[davidtirey]

Why don''t we tell it like it is?
The main reason kids are fat is they eat too much of all the wrong foodsand set on thier behiend all day playing video games!!

[random_radar]

This is another case of false causality and lying with statistics. The authors of the study are finding a correlation between sleep and obesity and suggesting that more sleep avoids getting fat.

A more likely interpretation is that parents who let their children stay up late also let them eat too much. Putting your kids to bed doesn''t make them skinny in and of itself. On the contrary, the parents who make sure their children get to bed on time are also making sure they eat right.

It is amazing how many false conclusions are counterproductively taught to us in vain. It is surprising that people with Ph.D.s who think they are so smart can miss the boat so often.

[bb19631]

Stop giving them sugary snacks and drinks before bedtime. Pumped up on all that sugar would make anyone stay awake. Make kids go outside and play, instead of sitting on the couch all day. Feed them in moderation. Face it children in this generation are very lazy.

[fibonacci_]

How on Earth can we have let ourselves get so fat as a nation? I am not trying to make fun, I have family members who are overweight or obese and it is a health concern. What do you all think we can do to help this? It saddens me :( .

[grammawhamma]

Parents who enforce a strict bedtime more then likely also set and enforce other rules for their children to follow. Lax parents who let their children set their own bedtime are likely to be lax in all aspects of parenting.

[alphaa10-2009]

Typical eight-year old lament, "Aw, Dad, I wanna stay up and watch TV! ... can I check the frig for something to eat?"

The parent who caves and says, "OK", helps institutionalize the lifelong,lethal habit of boundless TV hours and idle, recreational eating. After all, he rationalizes, this is better than having the child run outside at all hours, and get into trouble.

Now, fast forward to the same youngster ten years later-- still staying up late, watching TV, and 100 pounds heavier. Perhaps with early-onset type 2 diabetic indications, as well.

Even more disturbing, some pediatric research indicates obesity starts in the earliest years of development, with diet-induced changes in the body''s proportion of fat cells. That is, children fed a calorie-heavy diet without exercise sufficient to burn the calories will start to accumulate fat.

Though developmental and metabolic issues are not always simple, exercise is the best medicine of all. Kids know that without being told.

[gvalentino]

If you remember the sixties and seventies, you remember opening the front door and hearing children playing and laughing and carrying on, whether it was hop-scotch or jump ropes, or playing ball, kids used to find their entertainment with other children. Tobogganing in the winter or making snow angels. I don''t remember so many fat, lazy kids back then. They were always ready to mow your lawn or shovel the drive in the winter. Now? The computer games and indoor activities have deadened the sound of children playing. Fat, lazy procrastinators are going to run the world someday. Will our society be better? I think not.
Shut off the computer and go out and explore the world. Give your kids the knowledge that they can make a difference in this world by giving to others. Let them play outside in the fresh air where they learn to take responsibility for themselves. They''ll be healthier, both physically and emotionally because of it.