Researchers have revealed that sound sleep during night lessens a child’s risk of becoming obese.

The study outcomes from the University of Michigan C S Mott Children’s Hospital recommended that lack of sleep, fewer than 9 hours a day, causes kids, aged between 6 to 12 years, to turn obese, irrespective of their sexual category, race, socioeconomic status, or home environment quality.

Lead researcher, Julie Lumeng, MD, assistant research scientist at the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development, said, “Many children aren’t getting enough sleep, and that lack of sleep may not only be making them moody or preventing them from being alert and ready to learn at school, it may also be leading to a higher risk of being overweight.”

“This study suggests that an increased risk for overweight is yet another potential consequence of short sleep duration, providing an additional reason to ensure that children are receiving adequate sleep, primarily through enforcing an age-appropriate bed time,” Lumeng added.

Researchers viewed the information from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development on reported sleep troubles, sleeping time and BMI (body mass index) for 785 elementary school pupils aged between 9 to 12.

The scientists discovered that obese sixth-grade kids slept less hours as compared to the children who were not obese. Sleeping troubles were not linked with a child’s risk of becoming overweight.

Most promising, these study outcomes depict that for each additional hour of sleep in sixth standard, a child was 20% less likely to turn obese in sixth grade; every extra hour of sleep in third grade resulted in a 40% decrease in the child’s risk of being overweight in sixth grade.

Lumeng said, “Sleep may have a behaviour impact on children. In other words, children who are better rested may have more energy to get more exercise. For example, they may be more likely to go out and play, as opposed to lying on the couch watching TV. It also is possible that when children are tired, they may be more irritable or moody, and may use food to regulate their mood.”

The study outcomes are released in the November issue of the journal ‘Pediatrics’.