Parent should make sure their children get good sleep

Another study has confirmed the importance of good sleep for good health and has shown a direct correlation between children who sleep less and higher rates of obesity. The study which was conducted in New Zealand at the University of Otago looked at over a thousand children born between the years 1972 and 1973.

The results made clear that children who slept less between the ages of five and eleven had larger BMI’s as adults and were statistically much more likely to be suffering from obesity. What makes this study different from others is that it looked at whether a lack of sleep as a child would have an effect on obesity rates as an adult. Other studies have looked at the correlation between child sleep and child obesity but not at future obesity rates.

The lead researcher Erik Landhuis explained that poor sleep was thought to disrupt hormones which are responsible for appetite regulation. Many people observe that when they have a poor night’s sleep they feel hungrier in the morning and that is in response to the body craving extra energy which it has not made up from sleep. Also people who sleep less have less energy and are therefore less probable to get exercise.

Parent should be aware of the importance of making sure their children get good sleep.  It will make them focus better at school, be less stressed and make them healthier overall. Parents should also ensure that they get adequate sleep too in order to be healthy.

The research which is published in the medical journal Paediatrics was extremely thorough in that it took into account other factors which may have been responsible for the obesity such as a sedentary lifestyle, a family history of obesity and so on and thus linked obesity purely to a lack of good sleep.

At Ukmedix News we believe in doing lots of little things in order to lose weight. We appreciate that you are not going to shed pounds purely by getting good sleep but it could definitely help your weight loss plan.