Getting a good night’s sleep halves a young child’s risk of being overweight and lowers the chances of later anxiety and depression, a Harvard Medical School study has shown.

In a study involving 915 children in Massachusetts, researchers found that those who slept less than 12 hours a day in the first two years of life were twice as likely to be overweight at age 3 than children who slept longer. Very young children need more sleep and those in this study slept an average of 12.3 hours per day.

Very Interesting! And you thought getting a good night’s sleep during your baby’s first few years was just good for your own sanity :)

Further, television tended to make matters worse, with children who watched two or more hours daily by age 2 more likely to be overweight at age 3, the researchers said.

“Getting enough sleep is becoming harder with televisions, computers and video games in kids’ bedrooms.”, one of the researches stated.

Closer to home, a study at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville, Australia found that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder commonly had sleep problems.Among 239 Australian children ages 5 to 18 years with ADHD in the study, 73 percent had sleep problems. Their most common problems were difficulty falling asleep, resisting going to bed and tiredness upon waking, Dr. Sung (lead researcher) said.

Compared to other children with ADHD but no sleep problems, these children were more likely to have poorer quality of life and daily functioning, as well as poorer school attendance.

Source : News Daily