Sleep problems common in overweight children

Miia · Gold Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 390

Dr. Catherine L. Davis, clinical health psychologist at the Medical College of Georgia conducted a study among 100 overweight children to see if she could find a link between obesity in children and sleeping disorders.

The results were published in the November issue of Obesity and showed that 25 out of 100 overweight children who didn’t have physical activities tested positive for sleep-disordered breathing.

Then she decided to test and see if regular physical activity would change the incidence and divided children in three groups to see the effects of exercise on their metabolisms. There was a control group and two groups who exercised 20 and 40 minutes a day.

After just three months of regular activities that included jumping rope, basketball and tag games, the number of children with sleep disorder was cut in half.

Exercising did not only help the children’s sleeping problems. It affected their fitness, cardiovascular risks, muscles growth and shape but had no impact on their body mass indexes.

The long-term effects of sleep-disordered breathing on children could not be determined but after not getting a good night sleep, children usually show attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder-type behaviour instead of being sleepy. This could affect their school performance and their social behaviour.

This study results should be presented to both parents and the pediatricians who should ask about the kids snoring as anoring does not appear to be benign in children.

Sleep problems common in overweight children

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