childhood
PositiveTip for
Sleep Duration and Obesity at Age Six
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Insufficient sleep in young children raises risk of obesity by 420%.
Childhood obesity is sweeping the world, especially in the most economically developed countries. Sadly, 60-85% of obese children remain obese in adulthood. Researchers in Quebec, Canada followed a representative sample of infants born in 1997-98 for six years, focusing on sleep duration and body mass index. After controlling for potentially confounding factors, they found that those who slept less than 10 hours per night on a regular basis had 4.2 times the risk of obesity compared to those who slept 11 hours.
PositiveTip: How many hours of sleep per night are your young children getting? If they are not getting enough, they are at risk of obesity.
Early Childhood Sleep Deprivation May Lead to ADHD
Posted by Gary Hopkins on
The report from the Kaiser Family Foundation goes on to discuss other issues related to the media and sleep:
“Sleep problems in middle childhood tend to be persistent. This fact raises the question as to what, if any, are the long-term effects of media use on children’s sleep. It may be, for example, that there is a critical window early on in which good sleep habits are established.
One prominent sleep researcher has argued that sleep problems in early childhood may have adverse developmental impacts that are not fully observable until years later. This researcher speculates that early sleep deprivation in children is part of the cause of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
PositiveTip for
Risks for Heart Attack Before 55 Start in Childhood!
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Preventing obesity in the early years of life is vital to promoting longevity.
A research team has followed almost 5000 non-diabetic children for almost 25 years to assess the impact of overweight/obesity on premature death in adulthood. Those who were in the top quarter of body mass index (BMI) when children had 2.3 times the risk of death before age 55 than those in the lowest quarter of BMI. Interestingly, cholesterol levels in childhood showed no association with early death.
PositiveTip: Preventing obesity in the early years will improve the quality and longevity of the later years of life.