Children & Women
Infants sleeping less gain more weight by age 3
By Ben Wasserman
Apr 8, 2008 - 4:03:17 PM

TUESDAY April 8, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- A study showed infants and toddlers who slept fewer than 12 hours in a day were twice as likely to be overweight by the time they reached the age of 3 as those who slept longer.
 
Among those who slept less than 12 hours a day, those who also watched at least two hours of television a day were most likely to be overweight, according to the study in the April 2008 issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Previous studies have showed inadequate sleep and  TV watching were associated with weight gain in older children, but the current study is the first to correlate insufficient sleeping hours and TV viewing with excess weight in infants.

For the study, Elsie Taveras, MD, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention and colleagues followed 915 children participating in an ongoing Massachusetts study known as Project Viva.  At the age of 6 months, the children's mothers were asked about their children's sleeping habits and at the age of 1 and 2 years, their sleep and television watching habits were also surveyed.

The researchers found 586 children slept an average of 12 or more hours a day and 329 children slept less.  At the age of 3, among the long sleepers, seven percent were obese compared to 12 percent in the short sleepers.

Among those who slept less than 12 hours a day, 16 % of those who also watched two or more hours a day of television were overweight by the time they reached the age of 3.

It remains unknown why there is a correlation between sleeping hours and weight gain, but the researchers suggested sleep has an impact on appetite hormones, which may determine the amount of food children eat.

The TV viewing is correlated with weight gain because the TV viewers burnt fewer calories than those who were physically active.  In addition, TV ads may direct children to eat more snacks and fast food.

The study results support efforts to reduce television viewing and to promote adequate sleep to help prevent and reduce unhealthy childhood weight gain.  

Overweight children are often at higher risk for obesity and related conditions, such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, asthma, and type II diabetes, later in life.

"Getting enough sleep is becoming more and more difficult with TV, Internet, and video games in the rooms where children sleep," Taveras said.

"Our findings suggest that parents may wish to employ proven sleep hygiene techniques, such as removing TV from children's bedrooms, to improve sleep quality and perhaps sleep duration."