Getting kids to eat less regularly may be as easy as making sure they get a good night's sleep. That does not mean that sleep is the answer to the U.S. obesity problem, but it could be one part of the solution. The three-week study of 37 children ages 8 to 11, says that increasing sleep may decrease food consumption and improve steady weight in this age group. The next step is to see whether getting more sleep over an extended period of time may have even more dramatic effects on weight.
Achieving a good night's sleep during childhood should be explored as an important strategy to enhance prevention and intervention approaches for obesity. This approach has been supported by many others. The evidence is incredibly strong and consistent that a short list of lifestyle factors has a great influence on weight, health and even gene expression. The list includes physical activity, eating a healthy diet, not smoking, getting enough sleep and reducing stress. The power of lifestyle as medicine is not adequately appreciated. The best way to improve diet and weight may be by improving sleep.
The link between sleep and weight has been well-known already. But there has been no other study showing as clearly that with a direct change in sleep patterns comes an impressive, concurrent change in appetite, hormonal balance and food consumption. How well and how much our children sleep may very well influence how well and how much our kids eat. In the United States, more than one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese. Which puts them at great risk of serious health problems into adulthood.
The children slept their usual amount of about 9.5 hours, for a week. Then they randomly assigned the children to either up their sleep time in bed by 1.5 hours or decrease it by 1.5 hours. After one week, the groups switched sleep routines. Ten of the children (27%) were overweight or obese at the start of the study. The children who increased their sleep ate less, an average 134 fewer calories a day. They lost about half a pound on average and had lower morning levels of the hormone leptin. Leptin has been tied to appetite regulation.
While adults can get by with eight hours of sleep, children and teens need a little more. School aged children should sleep between 10 and 11 hours a night, while teens need about 9 hours of sleep nightly. Exactly why more sleep might help weight control isn't totally clear. It is possible that after a good night's sleep, children are much more active during the day. Trying to pick out all of the factors that influence appetite is a very difficult task. Appetite is multi-factorial. While this may not be conclusive, it surely opened the door to look at all these things.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Constable
Achieving a good night's sleep during childhood should be explored as an important strategy to enhance prevention and intervention approaches for obesity. This approach has been supported by many others. The evidence is incredibly strong and consistent that a short list of lifestyle factors has a great influence on weight, health and even gene expression. The list includes physical activity, eating a healthy diet, not smoking, getting enough sleep and reducing stress. The power of lifestyle as medicine is not adequately appreciated. The best way to improve diet and weight may be by improving sleep.
The link between sleep and weight has been well-known already. But there has been no other study showing as clearly that with a direct change in sleep patterns comes an impressive, concurrent change in appetite, hormonal balance and food consumption. How well and how much our children sleep may very well influence how well and how much our kids eat. In the United States, more than one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese. Which puts them at great risk of serious health problems into adulthood.
The children slept their usual amount of about 9.5 hours, for a week. Then they randomly assigned the children to either up their sleep time in bed by 1.5 hours or decrease it by 1.5 hours. After one week, the groups switched sleep routines. Ten of the children (27%) were overweight or obese at the start of the study. The children who increased their sleep ate less, an average 134 fewer calories a day. They lost about half a pound on average and had lower morning levels of the hormone leptin. Leptin has been tied to appetite regulation.
While adults can get by with eight hours of sleep, children and teens need a little more. School aged children should sleep between 10 and 11 hours a night, while teens need about 9 hours of sleep nightly. Exactly why more sleep might help weight control isn't totally clear. It is possible that after a good night's sleep, children are much more active during the day. Trying to pick out all of the factors that influence appetite is a very difficult task. Appetite is multi-factorial. While this may not be conclusive, it surely opened the door to look at all these things.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Constable
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