Young children not sleeping well risk weight problems

Healthy young children who don’t sleep well at night at more likely to become overweight than those sleeping well.

Despite several studies, doctors are not sure how sleep and the body interact during early childhood, but statistics do show there is a link between children not getting enough sleep and becoming overweight.

New research from New Zealand published on the British Medical Journal website, found that children between the ages of three and five years and getting poor amounts of sleep have a higher BMI by the age of seven.

The researchers suggest that the lack of sleep may increase the amount of food a child consumes alongside reduced exercise due to lack of energy.