Kids who sleep more less likely to gain weight

beeman · Feb 12, 2007

Here, check out this link,

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/02/07/sleep-kids-weight.html

Just another reason to get a good nights sleep.

AdventureMom · Feb 12, 2007

Sounds great, but my son must defy the odds then.

He hates to sleep, never napped much as an infant/toddler, and is still a skinny little bean.

I think it's partly due to his high energy level - zooming here, hopping there...

thepeach80 · Feb 12, 2007

That's why Evan is so skinny and AJ gains just fine. lol AJ HATES to sleep, always has, whereas Evan will put himself to sleep if he's tired.

Thanks for posting this!

broken4u05 · Feb 12, 2007

i was a great sleeper but a chuby kid

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs · Feb 12, 2007

I have found this to be true with my dd. When she started sleeping better, she stopped gaining weight at warp speeds. For awhile, she was gaining a pound a month...finally, she's stayed at 32.5 pounds for the last few months. I was worried about her weight gain, so I'm glad she's slowed down. She sleeps 12 hours a night and takes a 1-2 hour nap during the day.

chaoticoctopus · Feb 12, 2007

I had the wrong idea initially, when I read the thread/article title. I was thinking about babies (and infant weight gain patterns), in which case the title makes sense but none of y'all's responses do! LOL

I used to be dismissive about bedtimes and kiddos getting "plenty" of sleep, whatever that meant. I let them sleep when they were tired, and be awake when they weren't, without much outward influence. But the past few years have taught me how important it is for them to have a predictable bedtime and a full nights' sleep. It's interesting to learn that it could possibly affect how they gain & grow in later years as well. (Now they should do some studies to see how it affects adults' attempts at weight loss!)

beebear23 · Feb 12, 2007

Interesting.. My DS hardly ever sleeps and he's barely ever on the growth charts...

southpawboston · Feb 12, 2007

did anyone pick up on this contradiction?

Children under 12 who sleep more at night tend to weigh less in later years compared with those who don't get as many winks, researchers in the U.S. say.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois looked at more than 2,200 children aged three to 12 from across the country. The children were followed for five years.

"Our study suggests that earlier bedtimes, later wake times and later school start times could be an important and relatively low-cost strategy to help reduce childhood weight problems," said the study's lead researcher, Emily Snell of the School of Education and Social Policy and the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.

Diaries were used to record the total number of hours slept, when the children went to bed and the number of times they woke up. Heights and weights were also measured.

Children who slept nine hours instead of 10 were about one-fifth as likely to be overweight five years later, the researchers report in the January/February issue of the journal Child Development.

Getting an extra hour of sleep seemed to cut the likelihood of being overweight to 30 per cent from 36 per cent in children aged 3 to 8, and to 30 per cent from 34 per cent in those aged 8 to 13, after taking into account other factors that influence weight, such as race, ethnicity and parents' income and education levels.

Sleep experts recommend that children aged five to 12 get 10 to 11 hours a night of sleep, while teens should hit the sack for eight to nine hours.

In reality, the children in the study got less than 10 hours of sleep on weekdays at age seven, and 8.5 hours of sleep on weekdays at age 14.

It's thought that lack of sleep may affect hormones that influence appetite. Staying up later may also provide more chances to snack while leaving children feeling too lethargic to exercise.

Lack of sleep in children has also been linked to poor cognitive and social functioning.

beeman · Feb 13, 2007

I think what they're saying is that the real average of sleep of kids in the study was >10h at age 7, and 8.5h at age 14, and they they compared the kids that slept more to the kids that slept less. The CBC isn't really always clear on how they explain things.

joolsplus3 · Feb 13, 2007

beeman said:
Here, check out this link,

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/02/07/sleep-kids-weight.html

Just another reason to get a good nights sleep.

Looks more like a correlational link than a causal link, from a quick glance. Proably parents who are better at setting up good solid sleep routines for their kids also take more care about their kids eating well and exercising?

Just for example, my skinny son always goes to bed at 830, and eats a fairly healthy diet (and never goes anywhere without a car seat, but that's a different story, lol), but his chubby best friend is allowed to stay up late, the whole family is barely awake at 11am when we call to play, and he eschews any healthy foods when we try to feed him meals...going outside to play is *torture* for him...

So, just an anecdote, and maybe it is all about hormones or whatever, but I would like a little credit for my kids being slender and healthy

mamato2 · Feb 13, 2007

I read somewhere that there is a link between how much sleep women get and weight gain. Women who get 7 hours or less sleep tend to put on weight. They are not sure whether it is a metabolism 'thing' or what. Could be stress as well.
C. who has vowed to get more sleep, but it doesn't seem likely anytime soon!!

skaterbabs · Feb 13, 2007

mamato2 said:
I read somewhere that there is a link between how much sleep women get and weight gain. Women who get 7 hours or less sleep tend to put on weight. They are not sure whether it is a metabolism 'thing' or what. Could be stress as well.
C. who has vowed to get more sleep, but it doesn't seem likely anytime soon!!

heh
Then they've never met the women in my family. lol

canadianmom2three · Feb 13, 2007

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that if you are awake more, there is just more opportunity to keep eating---if you are sleeping, you're not eating

Hmmmmm if I could just sleep 12 hours each night I'd be not only well rested, but also very skinny

hsjwmom · Feb 13, 2007

I remember a Dateline a while back that talked about this. From what I understand, when you get tired but don't sleep, your body craves carbs to give you the energy to stay awake. It's kinda like your body replaces sleep with food. It was actually a report on popular myths; this one being that eating late at night would make you gain weight. Not true: it just depends on the total calories is all. If you are staying up late, not getting enough zzzz's, you are more likely to be taking in extra calories.

southpawboston · Feb 13, 2007

it might also be reverse causal-- that is, it may be that people who are heavier don't sleep as well. therefore the correlation still stands. it is been proven that being overweight increases the likelihood of sleep apnia.

Kids who sleep more less likely to gain weight

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