Less Preschool Sleep Leads to More Adolescent Obesity in Children

In a recent article in the Journal of Pediatrics, "Bedtime in Preschool-Aged Children and Risk for Adolescent Obesity," 977 Preschool-aged children (avg. 4.7 years old) were analyzed by their typical weekday bedtime.

1/4 Preschool-aged Children - slept 8:00 p.m. or earlier

1/2 Preschool-aged Children - slept 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

1/4 Preschool-aged Children - slept 9:00 p.m. or later

Ten years later, the children were analyzed again to determine their sex-specific body-mass-index-for-age.

The researchers came up with the following results:

Prevalence of adolescent obesity for 8:00 p.m. or earlier - 10%

Prevalence of adolescent obesity for 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - 16%

Prevalence of adolescent obesity for 9:00 p.m. or later - 23%

Sleeping later than 9:00 p.m. had a significant increaase of adolescent obesity. The steady rise indicates the link between an earlier bedtime to the lower prevalence of obeisty among adolescents.

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