Less Sleep Leads To Obesity In Children

Posted on December 16, 2008 in Latest News

According to several researches conducted, the lesser a child sleeps the more likely he/she is to become overweight.

It is therefore very important that a child have proper sleep during the night. Lack of sleep causes a child to become hyperactive and obese.

Causes

Researchers have found that lack of sleep lowers the level of a hormone called leptin, which stimulates metabolism and decreases hunger. In addition to this, lack of sleep increases levels of a ghrelin- a hormone that’s responsible for increasing hunger.

This means that children with lack of sleep have increased hunger due to an increased production of ghrelin, and there is no check on the amount of food they eat because the production of the hormone leptin that is supposed to indicate a full stomach is lowered.

So the best way to control obesity in children is to ensure that they have good rest and a proper night’s sleep.

Some tips parents can keep in mind are

1)    Making sure that the child does not watch late night movies or games.
2)    Not letting the child stay up late for parties.
3)    Not letting them to compensate night’s sleep with naps in the afternoon.
4)    Not letting the child watch horror movies or anything scary before going to bed.
5)    Making sure that the child completes homework and assignments before bedtime.

All these points should be kept in mind. It is better to nip the disorder at the root, rather than waiting and letting it progress to a stage where it becomes incurable.

Comments

Leave a Reply