Children who get 2 hours less sleep than the recommended amount are 92% more likely to be overweight

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Friday, November 19, 2010 3:10 pm Email this article
Children with shortest sleep duration, which was defined as getting roughly more than 2 hours less than the recommended amount of sleep, were 92% more likely to be overweight or obese than those who got more sleep according to a recent review by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Recommended Sleep

Recommended sleep by age

The recommended amount of sleep according to age is:

• at least 11 hours for children under the age of 5-years-old
• at least 10 hours for children 5- to 10-years-old
• at least 9 hours for children 10-years-old or older

 

Shortest Sleep Defined

Shortest sleep duration defined by age

Children with the shortest sleep duration was defined as:

• less than 9 hours for children under the age of 5-years-old
• less than 8 hours for children 5- to 10-years-old
• less than 7 hours for children 10-years-old or older

REFERENCE

Chen X, Beydoun M, Wang Y. Is sleep duration associated with childhood obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Feb, 16(2):265-74.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Youfa Wang
Department of International Health
Center for Human Nutrition
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Childhood Obesity

• Sleep