Can a Lack of Sleep Cause Obesity in Children and Teens?
by David J Breland, MD, MPH Recent research presented in Vancouver, B.C at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting suggest that it can. Researcher Leslie A. Lytle at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute along with colleagues conducted a study of 723 adolescents who were obese. Researchers asked the following questions: 1) What teens ate at school, 2) How active they are, and 3) How much sleep they get at night. They found that for boys and younger children, not getting enough sleep is a risk factor for childhood obesity. In adults, studies linking sleep and obesity do not always have the same results. But in children and adolescents, short sleep is consistently associated with a higher body mass. Typically children 5 to 12 years old should get 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night. As preteens become adolescents, their sleep patterns change. This change is called a Sleep Phase Shift. It happens as a result of changes in hormones, since teens need a little less sleep than preteen
