MAUI, HAWAII — There is increasing evidence that sleep deprivation might be related to the risk of obesity and insulin resistance in children, according to Dr. Sally Ward, head of pediatric pulmonology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
“And having children sleep more might certainly be an easier intervention than some of the other things that we use to help with obesity,” she said at a meeting sponsored by the University Childrens Medical Group and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Ward cited a recent study in which obese children with fewer than 6 hours of sleep on an overnight sleep study had increased insulin resistance, compared with children with equivalent body mass indices who had more than 6 hours of sleep (J. Pediatr. 2007;150:364–9). “So a high-risk group for insulin insensitivity can be made at further risk by sleep deprivation,” she noted at the meeting, also sponsored by the California Chapter of the AAP.
A large cross-sectional study of Japanese children showed that children with fewer than 8 hours of sleep were three times more likely to be obese than were children who had 10 hours or more of sleep (Child Care Health Dev. 2002;28:163–70).
She also referred to a prospective study of 150 children, from birth to 9.5 years, in which less sleep time in childhood was found to be an independent risk factor for obesity, along with parental overweight and lack of concern about the child's size (J. Pediatr. 2004;145:20–5).