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 Preschoolers who were in bed by 8 p.m. were half as likely to be
obese 10 years later as their peers who were still up after 9 p.m.,
researchers report in the Journal of Pediatrics.
“Encouraging kids to go to sleep early may be one way to prevent
excess weight gain,” lead author Dr. Sarah Anderson at Ohio State
University in Columbus told Reuters Health.
Excess weight in children has become a major health problem in the
U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
roughly 17 percent of children and adolescents - nearly 13 million
kids -are obese.
Anderson and coauthors used data on 977 children who were born
healthy in 1991 and who were tracked every year until they were 15.
When the children were 4 years old, on average, their mothers
reported their usual weekday bedtimes.
Half the kids had bedtimes after 8 p.m. but before 9 p.m., one
quarter went to bed at 8 p.m. or earlier, and another quarter went
to bed after 9 p.m.
When the researchers looked at the kids’ weights at age 15, they
found that preschoolers who went to bed before 8 p.m. were least
likely to be obese as teens. The likelihood of obesity was greater
for the kids who went to bed between 8 and 9 p.m., and greatest for
those who stayed up past 9 p.m. when they were little.
The rates of adolescent obesity were 10 percent, 16 percent, and 23
percent, respectively, in the three groups.
The researchers factored in other possible influences on obesity
risk, including socioeconomic status and mothers’ obesity. They also
adjusted for “maternal sensitivity,” a measure of the quality of the
mother-child relationship, such as whether mothers paid attention to
their child’s emotional needs, how often they supported their
child’s decisions and how often they let their child make decisions
on their own.
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“Turns out that maternal sensitivity didn’t have an effect,” said
Anderson.
Not all households have the luxury of putting their kids to bed
early, Anderson acknowledged. “If parents come home late from their
jobs, it can be challenging to have a regular routine.”
Even so, she said, it’s important for parents to think about their
child’s bedtime, “so they get enough sleep and can function at their
best.”
The study doesn’t prove cause and effect, said Dr. Dennis Styne, who
studies childhood obesity at the University of California, Davis and
was not involved with the study.
Obesity also runs in families, and if parents are obese, their
children are at a higher risk of becoming obese, he said.
“Parents can’t change their genes, but they can instill good habits
in their children, like when they should go to sleep and what foods
they should eat,” Styne said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2a2ErKM Journal of Pediatrics, online July 14,
2016.
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