According to this article in Scientific American, by not getting enough sleep, a child’s risk of being overweight doubles and chances of later depression and anxiety increase. In two separate studies, young children who slept too little, were twice as likely to be overweight by age 3 and reported more anxiety, depressions and aggressive behavior as adults.
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Nice post… That research from Scientific American isn’t necessarily valid… there’s lots of holes in the study.
Of course sleep deprivation is going to have dramatic consequences on the health of kids. Just like everybody else they need to sleep in order for their bodies to not only function but also develop properly. What most people don’t realize is how much goes on while one sleeps. The most important factor is the release of GH (growth hormone) that is used to not only make the little ones get bigger but also to regenerate their damaged bodies. Lack of sleep = less GH and sicker bodies. There is an interesting post about this at http://www.wesleepbetter.com/blog/helpmesleep_files/getdeltasleep.html it talks about the importance of deep sleep and GH.
Cheers
I agree too. When I was a child, I was sleeping trough the day till maybe 6 years, because I went to preschool and there we were sleeping there after the lunch. I hated the noon sleeping so much… But now I’m a healthy person (quite healthy).
Isn’t that strange, that when we were children, we never wanted to sleep during the day, but when we are older, we would be very thankful for a siesta? 🙂
I am really imreesspd with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays..
I didnt sleep much as a child and definitely suffer with depression and anxiety problems as an adult, but i think it was these things that were probably keeping me awake in the first place!
It makes sense that kids who don’t sleep enough are at risk for obesity. If you are tierd, you tend to eat more, usually high fat sugary foods for energy
I love this sleep article about sleep and being overweight. There are now new studies that confirm that lack of sleep and being overweight are related. ( popular science 2009) Sleep regulates a chemical in your body. Not getting enough sleep can lead to sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation and not getting enough sleep can also lead to cardiovascular problems, type 2 diabetes, memory loss, Micro-sleeping, and other things. Thank you for writing this sleep / mattress blog.
A few years ago I went on vacation and I spent alot of my time sleeping. At the time I had a new baby and hadn’t slept much at home so I was very tired. Anyway after a week of getting plenty of good sleep I was surprised to find out I had lost 5 pounds after a vacation. Usually people gain weight on vacation. I’m convinced it was the extra sleep.