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Poor sleep in a child can lead to obesity
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Specialists at a college in London conducted a study on obesity in children. As it turned out, children who sleep less than their peers consume more calories, which in the future can turn into obesity and some health problems.
In previous studies, scientists have been able to establish the relationship between excessive appetite and lack of sleep in older children and adults. Recent research in this area has shown that the same connection exists in young children. In the course of the research, scientists noted that one and a half year old children who had less than 10 hours of sleep per day consumed an average of 100 calories more peers who slept for 13 hours or more. The daily dose of calories in this case increased by 10%.
Experts suggest that lack of sleep leads to a violation of hormonal dysfunction, which provokes excessive appetite and dulls the feeling of satiety. In addition, lack of sleep makes children irritable, and an energy-hungry body begins to demand food. Quite often, parents themselves exacerbate the situation, trying to calm the child with cookies or rolls.
Now scientists can not say exactly what causes this, but they suggest that sleep affects weight loss in young children. If the child's sleep is short, then this may lead to a change in the hormones responsible for the appetite.
According to the scientists, their research has made it possible to understand why the greater part of children who are disturbed by sleep are more susceptible to obesity than their peers with normal long sleep.
Despite the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done in this area, parents can be advised to pay attention to the child's sleep and nutrition, since it depends on the parents how much and when the child will eat in the first years of his life.
In addition, experts in their recent studies have found that the propensity to obesity in adulthood can be determined even in childhood. 50% of children who had problems with excess weight at the age of 13 had similar problems at a younger age. Doctors believe that obesity is a disease and it is necessary to work on it from an early age: to accustom to proper nutrition, to observe the regime, to play sports.
In the course of their research, the scientists monitored the state of more than seven thousand children, from kindergarten to 13 years of age. At the beginning of studies, obesity was in 12% of children, excess weight was observed and 15%. At the age of 13, these rates doubled. 50% of overweight children at an early age, at school had the same problems or exacerbated the situation even more. At the age of five, extra pounds in a child 4 times increase the likelihood of obesity in the future. According to statistics, every 20th child has problems with weight in kindergarten. In grades 1-3 and adolescence, there is a tendency for a sharp jump in the appearance of extra pounds.
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