Thursday, November 29, 2007

Tuck your kids in early tonight (and every night)!

My Thanksgiving bulge got me thinking again about obesity, so I thought since about a third of U.S. children are overweight or obese, it might be a good idea to re-examine childhood obesity.

As the holiday season looms before us, I thought parents should know that a recent study suggests that tucking your kids in early and letting them sleep late may reduce the risk of obesity. Children between the ages of 9 and 12 who got less than nine hours of sleep were at more likely to be obese regardless of other factors such as socioeconomic status, reported the study which appeared earlier this month in the journal Pediatrics. Lead researcher and pediatrician Julie Lumeng suggest that young children receive between 10 and 12 hours of sleep each night.

In addition to getting those zzzz's, children need to consume a healthy diet and participate in regular physical activity. Back in September, Jennifer Burnell, a nutrition education and fitness specialist with the Athens Regional Medical Center, reminded parents to nix the clean-your-plate rule and to help children make healthy food and lifestyle choices. We Can!, a national program designed to assist elementary-aged children in keeping off extra pounds, echoes Burnell's thoughts. In addition to providing children with commonsense steps to reduce weight, the program relies on parents to help kids make good decisions about diet and exercise. So, in addition to tucking your kids in early this holiday season, why don't you guys jog over to the park and have fun, instead of watching Tv and eating that extra brownie?

1 comment:

Tabitha said...

Hmm. This is a little counterintuitive to me. I know that a good amount of sleep is healthy, but I'd also think that too much could be bad and could contribute to a more lethargic lifestyle resulting in more of a problem with obesity. Anybody else?