Tired kids more likely to pile on the pounds
According to a new study carried out at the University of Michigan and published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, tweens who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight by the time they reach 6th grade.
Nine hours seems to be the key number, with children who clocked in fewer hours of sleep putting on the pounds: by sixth grade, children who were getting less than nine hours had a 23% rate of obesity. For every additional hour of sleep over and above the magic nine, they were 20% less likely to be overweight. The benefits of a few extra hours were even more marked with younger children – with each additional hour of sleep, 3rd graders were 40% less likely to be overweight.
In one study, 26% of teens reported getting fewer than 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Only around 20% get more than 9 hours and one child in four reports sleeping in class
How much sleep do children need?
According to the National Center on Sleep Disorders, school-age children should get at least nine hours of sleep a night (10-12 is the ideal) but most reports indicate that many don’t get enough. Lack of sleep is linked to difficulty concentrating, poor academic results, discipline problems (sleep deprivation is often mistakenly diagnosed as ADHD; research has also linked the incidence of ADHD to poor sleep habits), poor judgment, high stress levels and depression. Car accidents due to lack of alertness are also common among teen drivers suffering from a sleep deficit. The effects persist into adulthood, with lack of sleep a factor in diabetes and heart disease.
Around 97% of kids have a TV, computer, phone or music device in their bedroom. Adolescents with four or more such items are much more likely to get an insufficient amount of sleep and almost twice as likely to fall asleep in school
Biology at work
It’s clear that sleep faces hot competition from TV, the internet, texting, computer gaming and socializing once kids approach their teens. A child’s academic schedule can also interfere with bedtime, as after-school activities and sports conspire to ensure some kids are just starting on their homework when they should be hitting the sack.
But biology is also at work: scientists who conducted the research reckon that sleep might influence the hormones involved in fat metablism – other research has suggested that lack of sleep might adversely affect levels of a hormone called leptin, which suppresses appetite. Plus, kids undergo a change in their circadian rhythm as they go through puberty. This results in the hormone melatonin, which influences sleep, being produced later at night than when they were younger – making it hard for them to fall asleep as early as they used to. Here’s where school comes into the equation: despite kids naturally falling asleep later, many of them still have to be ready to catch the school bus at the crack of dawn to beat the school bell.
As to the increase in weight: it isn’t rocket science – kids who are too tired to do anything except flop on the couch in front of the TV when they get home from school aren’t going to burn those calories. And flopping on the couch in front of the TV tends to lead to snacking…
Supernanny’s tips for parents…
Watch out for these signs that your tween or teen might not be getting enough sleep:
- Difficulty waking in the morning.
- Sleeping extremely late at weekends.
- Trouble staying alert at school.
- Falling asleep on long drives, while reading a book or in other quiet situations.
- Irritability and aggression.
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions.
- Poor short-term memory.