Each extra hour of sleep reduces risk of childhood obesity in 10-12 year-olds by 14%

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:09 am Email this article
"Both short sleep duration and increased television viewing were associated with greater body fatness, obesity and higher blood pressure, independently of physical activity level," concluded a study of 4452 children from Brazil ages 10- to 12-years-old. Each Extra Hour of Sleep

Each extra hour of sleep reduced odds of obesity by 14%

Each extra hour of sleep reduce body mass index (BMI) by 0.16 units, and reduced the odds of obesity by 14 percent.

 

Effect of sleep and TV watching

Effect of sleep and TV watching independent of each other

“The effects of sleep duration and television viewing on obesity were independent of one another,” the researchers noted.

Blood pressure was affected by the amount of body fat.

REFERENCE

Wells JC, Hallal P, Reichert F, Menezes A, Araujo C, Victora C. Sleep patterns and television viewing in relation to obesity and blood pressure: Evidence from an adolescent brazilian birth cohort. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Mar 18, Advanced on-line publication.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. J. C. K. Wells
Childhood Nutrition Research Centre
Institute of Child Health
30 Guilford Street
London WC1N 1EH, UK
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Sleep

• Television Watching