The number of obese children is fast growing and it is quite alarming in some ways. This is because children nowadays spend more time in front of the computer or television and lesser time doing outdoor activities such as playing sports and exercising. Since both parents are working, neither of them have free time to prepare home cooked healthy dishes. Both young and adults are living in fast-paced world, hence the mindset of doing everything quick and easy is the best solution they can think of. But this is just one of the many factors involved in weight gain problems.
Sleep studies have shown that there is a strong connection between becoming overweight. Abnormal sleep patterns resulting to lack of sleep contribute to abnormal weight gain of children aged nine to twelve years old. Lack of sleep may not only result to becoming moody and inactive in school, it can also lead to being overweight. In the research it has been found that children who slept less than nine hours have higher risk of being overweight.
By the time these kids reach the sixth grade they are most likely to be overweight. However there is something positive shown in this studies, when kids reach sixth grade, an extra hour of sleep would mean 20 percent reduction on the risk of being overweight.
It can be because those children who get enough sleep have more energy to consume in doing physical activities rather than those who do not have enough sleep. So instead of playing outside or doing exercise, these children would just lie around. It is important that parents should monitor the sleep patterns of their children to avoid overweight problems in the future. Parents must reinforce proper bedtime schedule based on their kids’ age. It is also a must that children must have a good and healthy sleep.
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