Preschoolers are so young, so cute, and have so much ahead of them.
One thing you don’t want to see in their bright future: Obesity.
A recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that preschoolers who were in bed by 8 p.m. were half as likely to develop obesity in their teens than their peers whose bedtime was 9 p.m. or later.
Researchers looked at 977 children born in 1991 from time of birth through their teenage years. They recorded data such as weight, height, level of parents’ education and observed attentiveness through video recordings.
Then, when the child was around 4 1/2 years old, the researchers asked the mother about bedtime. A quarter of the kids went to bed at 8 pm or earlier, a quarter of them after 9 pm and the other half sometime in between.
The result?
According to NPR, “Even after the researchers controlled for other factors like birthweight, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and the mother’s weight, the preschoolers who went to bed late – after 9 p.m. – were still twice as likely to develop obesity in their teens as the early-to-bed group.”
Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the United States, and this study shows sleep quality and quantity both may play a larger role than previously thought. Fortunately, putting kids to bed a bit earlier is a fairly simple fix for most parents. If it ends up preventing future health problems associated with obesity, that extra half hour or hour won’t seem like much at all.
Kids heading back to school? Check out these tips to get them back on schedule and ready to learn.
