Parents, Make Your Child Have A Bedtime Routine For Healthy BMI Later

1 min read
BMI

Is your child facing trouble in sleeping? If so, parents take note. Regular and sufficient sleep from early childhood may be important for gaining healthy body weight in adolescence, suggests a new study.

The study revealed that those who had no bedtime routine at age nine had shorter self-reported sleep duration and higher body mass index (BMI) at age 15, when compared to those children with age-appropriate bedtimes.

“We think sleep affects physical and mental health, and the ability to learn,” said Orfeu Buxton, Professor from the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

“Parenting practices in childhood affect physical health and BMI in the teenage years. Developing a proper routine in childhood is crucial for the future health of the child,” Buxton added.

Previous studies have shown that poor sleep can affect academic performance, as well as contribute to death and cases of heart disease and stroke.

For the study, researchers analysed 2,196 children.

The findings, published in the journal SLEEP, showed that one-third of children consistently adhered to age-appropriate bedtimes for ages five to nine.

Bedtime should provide enough of a “window” for the child to get an appropriate amount of sleep, even if the child does not fall asleep right away, said Buxton.

Future family interventions may need to include parental education about sleep health, particularly focusing on parents with low income and low education, Lee said, adding the need for research in childhood sleep behaviour and weight in later life.

Discover more from The Kashmir Monitor

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Don't Miss

budget

Health, tourism, horticulture: Centre to ramp up J&K finances; likely to increase budget to Rs 1.20L Cr next fiscal

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government has started a process for framing the
Lt Governor visits DH Poonch to enquire about health of civilians who were injured in a road accident 2

Sawjian accident: LG visits DH Poonch to enquire about health of injured persons

POONCH, SEP 14: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited District Hospital, Poonch to enquire