Children with regular bedtimes less likely to be obese
- Three-year-olds who had regular bedtimes were less likely to be overweight at 11
- The same association applied to limits on their TV or device time
- These habits promoted better emotion regulation which is linked to weight
Claudia Tanner For Mailonline
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Children who have a consistent bedtime routine and limited screen time are at lower risk of being obese, research suggests.
They may also be better at regulating their emotions than those with erratic schedules who watch lots of television or have excessive use of iPads and phones, say the authors.
Excessive TV watching and use of other screen-devices and insufficient sleep have long been linked to obesity in adults.
Now this current study offers a new insight into how these habits may in fact take hold earlier on in childhood.
The study also links emotion regulation to obesity in youngsters.
The Ohio study suggests regular bedtimes encourages a healthy weight in children (file)
Three-year-old children who had regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and limits on their television/video time were better at controlling their feelings and impulses, the authors found.
More chaotic routines meant they at age three meant they had poorer emotion regulation and were more likely to be obese at 11.
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‘Both lack of a regular bedtime and poor emotion regulation increased risk for later obesity,’ lead study author Sarah Anderson, a public health researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus told Reuters.
‘These two factors were independent of each other; the link between bedtimes and obesity could not be explained away by a child’s inability to regulate their emotions.’
Obese in children is a growing problem (file)
Anderson’s team analysed data on 10,955 youngsters born in the UK from 2000 to 2002. They looked at parents’ descriptions of household routines and children’s behaviour at three as well as measurements of children’s height and weight at age 11.
They discovered that by age 11, about 6 per cent of the the children studied were obese.
When this group were three, 41 per cent always had a regular bedtime, 47 per cent always had a regular mealtime and 23 per cent were limited to no more than an hour of TV a day.
Inconsistent bedtimes when younger were associated with a 87 per cent greater chance of being obese by 11.
The children’s emotional regulation were scored on a scale of one to five. The preschoolers had average emotional regulation scores of two.
Being glued to mobiles, tablets and other screens can cause health problems for children (file)
Each one-point decline in emotional regulation at age three was linked with a 38 per cent increased chance of obesity when older.
Unsurprisingly, those who always had regular meals were more likely to have regular bedtimes.
While you may expect irregular mealtimes to be associated with obesity – how often are we told to eat little and often – the researchers found the opposite in this study.
Youngsters who rarely, if ever, had regular mealtimes at age three were less likely to be obese by age 11. Therefore, regular meal times were only linked to better emotion regulation.
The study was not a controlled experiment, but the findings still highlight the health benefits of regular bedtimes, say researchers.
The research was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
HOW TO ESTABLISH A SLEEP ROUTINE FOR YOUR CHILD
Decide what time you want your child to go to bed.
Close to the time that your child normally falls asleep, start a 20-minute ‘winding down’ bedtime routine.
Bring this forward by 5-10 minutes a week – or 15 minutes if your child is in the habit of going to bed very late – until you get to the bedtime you want.
Set a limit on how much time you spend with your child when you put them to bed. For example, read only one story, then tuck your child in and say goodnight.
Give your child their favourite toy, dummy (if they use one) or comforter before settling into bed.
Leave a beaker of water within reach and a dim light on if necessary.
If your child gets up, keep taking them back to bed again with as little fuss as possible.
Try to be consistent. You may have to repeat this routine for several nights.
Source: NHS Choices
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