More Ammo for Naps!

Always on top of the pulse of the planet, I just now found this in today's Toronto Globe & Mail:

Want Your Children to Lose Weight? Send them to Bed

SCOTT DEVEAU

Globe and Mail Update

Hitting the hay may be just as good as hitting the gym in the fight against childhood obesity, a new study suggests.

The risk of becoming overweight is 3.5 times higher in children who get less sleep than in those who sleep a lot, according to the research.

“It's ironic that part of the solution to obesity might lie in sleep, the most sedentary of all human activities,” according to Angelo Tremblay, one of three co-authors of the study, which is published in the March issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Researchers from the Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine measured the weight, height, and waist size of 422 children aged 5 to 10. After taking body mass index readings, they found that those children who slept less than 10 hours a night were 3.5 times more at risk of being overweight than those who slept for more than 12 hours.

“No other factor analyzed in the study — parental obesity, parents' level of education, family income, time spent in front of the TV or computer, regular physical activity — had as much of an impact on obesity than time spent sleeping,” according to the report.

The researchers speculate that hormones produced during sleep, or those produced when the children are deprived of it, are responsible for the differences in weight, Mr. Tremblay said.

“Lack of sleep lowers the level of leptin, a hormone that stimulates metabolism and decreases hunger. In addition, short nights of sleep boost the concentration of ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger,” Mr. Tremblay said in a statement.

Mr. Tremblay speculates that the relationship between a general loss of sleep and increased rates of obesity in society have broader implications than in just young children.

Between 1960 and 2000, the prevalence of obesity doubled in the population while the average night of sleep lost one to two hours. During the same period, the percentage of young adults who slept less than seven hours went from 16 per cent to 37 per cent, according to the report.

“In light of this study's results, my best prescription against obesity in children would be to encourage them to move more and to make sure they get enough sleep,” Mr. Tremblay said.

And to think I was feeling guilty about schlepping around in my hoodie and flannel pants... That's it, I'm NEVER getting dressed! PJ pants rule!