A leading UK expert claims that children’s lack of sleep could be partly to blame for obesity.
According to Dr Shahrad Taheri and his team at Bristol University sleep deprivation leads to hormonal changes. These changes in hormones try to provide the body with an energy boost by telling it to eat sugary or starchy food. This increased intake of food eventually leads to weight gain. Experts believe that sleep deprivation should be taken as seriously as diet and exercise in the obesity battle.
"There is a really clear relationship between short sleep duration and obesity in children." Dr Taheri said. He believes obesity occurs due to the "imbalance between the energy that we take in - the foods that we eat -and the energy we burn, which is our physical activity". He added "there is a very good relationship between physical activity and good sleep". He said the link between the two is after children take part in some sort of physical activity they become tired. However, if a child had been watching television or playing computer games they would be less likely to sleep well.
The expert believes that children are "smart enough to learn about healthy foods and the importance of exercise so we really should educate them about the importance of sleep". One idea is to start school later in the day to give youngsters a chance to lie in.
Another proposal is to ask parents to make sure their children get to sleep at a reasonable hour by taking computers, televisions and mobile phones out of their bedrooms.
Based on the current situation, experts have predicted that by the year 2010 one million children in the UK will be obese. According to the World Health Organization, more than 22 million under five year olds worldwide are overweight or obese.
The chairman of the Child Growth Foundation Tam Fry said the obesity problem in the UK was “huge” and continuing to rise. "The Department of Health wishes to halt the year on year rise of obesity by 2010," he said. "I'm afraid that won't happen and really drastic measures now need to be put in place to try and reverse this situation."
October 2006 | 
Abortion Time Limit Cut?
