Lack of sleep 'leads to overweight kids'

It is not just adults who have trouble sleeping in bed at night as new research has shown that between the ages of six months and six years old, 90 per cent of children have a sleep-related problem.

Scientists at the Universite de Montreal have now found that these children are more likely to become overweight as they grow up.

In a sample of 1,138 children, 26 per cent of those who suffered from lack of sleep were overweight. Around 18.5 per cent of these had a body mass index of 25 to 30 while 7.4 per cent had a body mass index above 30.

Jacques Montplaisir, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and director of Sleep Disorders Centre at Sacre-Coeur Hospital, explained that "when we sleep less, our stomach secretes more of the hormone that stimulates appetite".

Good to Know recently reported that making bedtime seem like an enjoyable activity can be a good way to encourage children to go to sleep at night.

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