Babies' lack of sleep linked to later weight gain
Babies who sleep for 12 or more hours a day are less likely to be overweight
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Tuesday, 08, Apr 2008 09:20
Babies who sleep for less than 12 hours a day are more likely to be overweight at the age of three, new research suggests.
Scientists at Harvard Medical School also found that babies who had little sleep and who watched the most television had the highest risk of being overweight.
Previous research has shown that restricting sleep changes hormone levels, which could stimulate hunger and increase weight gain.
For the latest study the researchers assessed 915 children in eastern Massachusetts.
Children were weighed and measured immediately after birth; at six months; and at three years.
Mothers reported their children's sleep habits at these visits and on questionnaires one and two years after birth.
Based on these reports the researchers calculated each child's average daily sleep duration between six months and two years.
Writing in the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the study's authors say the infants slept an average of 12.3 hours per day.
At the age of three, 83 children (nine per cent) were overweight.
After the researchers took other factors into account, such as their mother's body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, they found that babies who slept less than 12 hours per day had a higher BMI for age and sex; higher skinfold thickness (another measure of overweight); and were more likely to be overweight at age three than children who slept for 12 hours or more per day as infants.
The researchers conclude that their findings support prevention interventions that target both a reduction in television viewing and ensuring adequate sleep duration.
"The mechanisms underlying the association between sleep duration and adiposity [amount of body fat] are unclear," the authors write.
They suggest that in addition to altering hormone levels, sleeping less at night may lead to daytime sleepiness and reduced activity levels during waking hours.
More time spent awake could also offer more opportunities to eat.
"Strategies to improve sleep duration among young children may be an important component of behavioural interventions that promote childhood overweight prevention," the researchers conclude.
"Our findings suggest that clinicians and parents may wish to use evidence-based sleep hygiene techniques to improve sleep quality and perhaps increase sleep duration."