Your Baby Could Become Obese If…

...he or she sleeps fewer than 12 hours a day.

At least that’s what a new study from Harvard is showing. Babies and toddlers who slept fewer than 12 hours a day had a doubled risk of being obese at age 3 than the other children. And if the kids who didn’t get their 12 hours also watched more television than the others, they fared even worse. 

The article that summed up these findings called the evidence “startling,” but I don’t see what’s so startling about all this. We’ve known for some time now that sleep and obesity are linked. When you don’t get your Zs, the body’s regulation of hormones associated with appetite and hunger get thrown off course. Put simply, when you are sleep deprived, you’re hungrier. That would be true whether you’re an adult or a child.

I can’t think of a more preposterous image than that of an obese baby. The real question here is why kids so young are already falling into the adult-like traps of not getting enough sleep. There are so many distractions today for even the little ones. It’s disheartening to hear that a child can become overweight by preschool!

But if they are sitting for hours in front of the television, they aren’t spending time playing and expending energy. Compounding that issue is the lack of sufficient sleep.

Twelve hours may seem like a long time, but kids at this tender age need that much sleep for growth and development, as well as a healthy physiology. As they lose the need for so much sleep as they get older, those distractions become even greater— creating more poor sleep habits.

This is just further evidence that we MUST teach our children the importance of sleep. What is this world coming to?

Comments

[Rebecca]

Hi there, I just saw your blog and thought you might be interested in a new program that really helps put babies to sleep. I work for a company who has developed a product called sounds for silence, and that is exactly what happens when you practice this technique with your baby. It truly is amazing! Basically, Sounds for Silence is a program that was developed by a pediatrician with over 25 years of experience and is apart of a technique known as SMS. SMS is simply a combination of security (swaddling your baby), movement (engaging your baby in repetitive movements) and sounds (rhythmic, consistent and low frequency noises). In fact, we’ve asked moms and dads to try it out and have found 96.8% of babies were soothed by Sounds for Silence and that over half of babies were settled in less than 60 seconds. It really is quite amazing. To find out more, check out the website www.soundsforsilence.com.au

[Rebecca]

Hi there, I just saw your blog and thought you might be interested in a new program that really helps put babies to sleep. I work for a company who has developed a product called sounds for silence, and that is exactly what happens when you practice this technique with your baby. It truly is amazing! Basically, Sounds for Silence is a program that was developed by a pediatrician with over 25 years of experience and is apart of a technique known as SMS. SMS is simply a combination of security (swaddling your baby), movement (engaging your baby in repetitive movements) and sounds (rhythmic, consistent and low frequency noises). In fact, we’ve asked moms and dads to try it out and have found 96.8% of babies were soothed by Sounds for Silence and that over half of babies were settled in less than 60 seconds. It really is quite amazing. To find out more, check out the website www.soundsforsilence.com.au

[kayla]

This was very interesting to read. I did not get to read much,but I will return. Our 11 month old was born with esophageal atresia a and other complications so my time is limited.

[samantha]

Thanks for the tips. These symptoms to watch out for in children are really helpful. My husband was diagnosed with sleep apnea a year or two ago and I have heard that it often runs in families. I am a little bit concerned that our children might have it as well. Now I know more about what to look for Child Sleep Solution