Earlier bedtimes for toddlers lead to lower numbers of obese teenagers, a sleep expert claims.
Putting children to bed early not only staves off crankiness but it also prevents preschoolers becoming teens with unhealthy weights. Now what is said to be the first study on the issue backs up what Irish paediatric sleep expert Lucy Wolfe of the Sleep Clinic says she sees on a daily basis.
The US study of early child care and youth development examined the relationship between toddlers’ bedtime and obesity in adolescence of 977 children aged four-and-a-half. Study author Sarah Anderson, associate professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University, found an association between earlier bedtimes for children and healthier weight at the age of 15.
Guidelines recommend toddlers receive 9.5 to 11.5 hours of sleep a night. Later bedtimes were related to increased risk of obesity. Only 10% of children who went to bed at 8pm or earlier were obese, said the study published in the Journal Of Pediatrics. As many as 16% of children who went to bed between 8pm and 9pm were obese, while 23% of children who went to bed at 9pm and later were obese. This was the same for both boys and girls. While bedtime does not represent how much sleep children get, experts believe that the earlier children go to bed, the more likely they are to get extra sleep.
Cork-based Ms Wolfe said: ‘I am always promoting the importance of early and regular bedtimes, as we know that this activity lays a solid foundation of better and longer sleep duration. ‘We also know there is a relationship between appetite and sleep, with lost sleep disrupting the chemicals in the body that regulate appetite and metabolism. ‘I see first-hand when the young child’s sleep is improved, the knock-on effect is improved appetite as well as behaviour.
Now we can see both together having a positive impact on our teenagers’ weight. We also know the loss of one hour can have a direct impact on mood and behaviour and academic performance. ‘It is great to help parents become informed and to continue to prioritise their young children’s sleep now in an effort to ensure that they will be at their optimum in early childhood and beyond.’ The study also found poor mothers, less educated ones, and African-American and Hispanic mothers were more likely to have later bedtimes for their children.
Last month, a Fine Gael senator claimed that traffic light labelling on food products would help battle childhood obesity. Catherine Noone has long campaigned for the introduction of measures to help cut our excessive consumption of sugar. In a survey she conducted outside Dublin supermarkets, 97% of the 250 people – mostly mothers – interviewed were in favour of the colour-coded system. And she found most believed popular yoghurt-and-fruit-based snacks for children were ‘healthy’ despite portions containing up to half a child’s daily allowance of sugar.
The senator said: ‘The World Health Organisation has predicted Ireland is on course to be the fattest country in Europe by 2030 and currently one in four children are overweight or obese. ‘This is an alarming trend and we must all come together and take real and practical steps to tackle this huge problem.’ This survey suggested the public is unaware of what foods contain, particularly children’s foods.
Ms Noone said: ‘Traffic-light labels would make it much easier for consumers to tell at a glance which foods are healthiest. The labels indicate with red, amber and green labels which foods are high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.’
It is estimated that 37% of Irish adults are overweight and 24% of those are obese. In addition, it is estimated that more than a quarter of nine-year-olds are overweight or obese – with 19% classed as overweight and 7% as obese.
By Sarah Slater
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