It’s not easy being a parent, with all there is to do and teach your children! Research has recently been released that shows us that the job of putting your kids to bed on time is more important than we ever thought.
The news is: for every additional hour, per night, a third-grader spends sleeping there is a reduction of that child’s chances of becoming obese by the sixth grade. The studies have shown that no matter what the child’s weight was in the 3rd grade, the less sleep they got, the more likely they were to be obese within three years (by the sixth grade).
There seems to be a magic number of sleep needed by 3rd graders: it is nine hours, 45 minutes of sleep. Children who slept 10 to 12 hours were less likely to get as fat as those who slept less than 9 hours.
It’s not surprising, but these researchers found that tired kids are less likely to exercise and more likely to sit around and eat more. Sleep studies on adults give us the reasons why. The studies show that lack of sleep causes two hormones to be affected. When sleeping too little, the body produces more ghrelin, a hormone that makes us hungry. At the same time, the sleep-deprived body makes less leptin, a hormone that signals fullness. This means a sleepy adult is hungrier than usual and not satisfied by the regular amount of food. You can see where this would lead!
The University of Michigan study on children did not account for parents’ weight or eating habits and of course those factors also contribute to the risk of children gaining weight. But it’s clear; along with the other logical reasons for getting plenty of sleep, like school success, it seems that the bed time battle is well worth the struggle. Your kids may not appreciate your efforts right away but there’s new documentation to remind you to keep up the good work. Get the kids into bed on time and take care of yourself too. Adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night! Be a role model for your family and get enough sleep yourself.
Alice Lockridge,
MS Phys Ed
Pro-Fit