Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found a strong link between sleep duration and childhood obesity.

"For the study, Wang, Chen and colleague May A. Beydoun, also a postdoctoral fellow at the Bloomberg School, reviewed 17 published studies on sleep duration and childhood obesity... The results of the analysis showed that children with the shortest sleep duration had a 92 percent higher risk of being overweight or obese compared to children with longer sleep duration."

Sleep recommendations varied between studies, but researchers settled on recommendations of 11 hours for children under 5, 10 hours for children 5 to 10, and 9 hours for children 10 or older. Read more at MediLexicon.com.

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Labels: healthy_living, lifestyle, sleep

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a surprising correlation between sleep and weight. The study looked at the weight, height and sleep patterns of 785 children in 10 U.S. cities.

"Of the children who slept 10-12 hours each night at age eight, about 12% were obese by 11, compared to 22% of those who slept less than nine hours."

The study also found that, in third graders, every additional hour of sleep resulted in a 40% drop in their chance of becoming obese. Though the results of the study were undeniable, researchers are unsure why sleep plays such a profound role in weight gain among children.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, sleep

Teens with sleep apnea are more likely to be overweight and at risk for heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, according to a new study by Case Western University. Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder in which soft tissues in the throat collapse temporarily during sleep.

Dr. Susan Redline and her colleagues studied 270 teenagers and found that those with sleep apnea were six and a half times more likely to have metabolic syndrome, a condition liked with being overweight. A person has the syndrome if he or she has three of the following: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high triglycerides and low levels of "good" cholesterol.

This study suggests that sleep apnea may contribute to metabolic syndrome, because "sleep stress" may lead to elevated blood sugar and blood pressure levels. This study appears in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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Labels: health_factors, sleep, stress

Health officials are now saying than crankiness isn't the only thing to worry about if your child doesn't get enough sleep. An ongoing study at Yale is researching the connection between sleep, obesity, and diabetes.

Dr. Sumit Bhargava, of the Yale Pediatric Sleep Lab is studying "whether obese children who have obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to become diabetic."

Read more online.

Labels: diabetes, research, sleep

A recent study conducted by Northwestern University finds that children who don't get enough sleep are at a higher risk of being overweight.

"A study followed 2,000 kids for five years, and found that kids who get just one extra hour of sleep are four to 6% less likely to be overweight. They also found that the kids who were getting more sleep overall weighed less at the end of the five year study."

Another reason to get your kids to bed early. Read more online.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, research, sleep