Sleep can help kids stay slim
From Times wire reports
Children who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight than those who get more, according to a study that tracked more than 2,000 U.S. kids for five years.
Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., used detailed diaries kept by families to examine children’s sleep behavior and its relationship with weight. They determined that an extra hour of sleep cut the likelihood of being overweight from 36% to 30% in children ages 3 to 8, and from 34% to 30% in those ages 8 to 13.
The study, published Feb. 7 in the journal Child Development, involved 2,281 children taking part in a nationally representative survey. They were ages 3 to 12 at the start of the study in 1997. Follow-up data was collected five years later.
