Early bed prevents childhood obesity
A new study conducted by researchers of the University of South Australia suggests children who are ”early to bed and early to rise” are less likely to become obese.
Previous studies had showed that children who got enough shut-eye are less likely to become overweight but the new research says the time kids go to bed and rise are also important to keep them slim.
Researchers found that the children who went to bed late and woke up late and those who went to bed early and woke up early got virtually the same amount of sleep in total.
Kids who used to get late to bed and get up late were almost 1.5 times more likely to become obese than those who used to sleep early and get up early.
Late-nighters were almost two times as likely to be physically inactive and 2.9 times more likely to watch more TV or play video games longer than guidelines recommend, says the report published in the journal SLEEP.
”Scientists have realized in recent years that children who get less sleep tend to do worse on a variety of health outcomes, including the risk of being overweight and obese. Our study suggests that the timing of sleep is even more important,” said study co-author Carol Maher.
The reason is because adolescents are better able to engage in physical activities in the mornings than they are at night, when sedentary habits such as studying, watching TV and social networking consume most of their time, researchers suggested.
The new study can be taken as a warning, as surveys show that teens naturally tend to stay up late and wake later, authors concluded.
Source: presstv.ir
