April 3, 2006 – Children who do not get enough sleep are said to be at risk of being overweight or obese. This is indicated by the results of an epidemiological study conducted by researchers1 from Laval University, in Quebec, with 422 children aged 5 to 10 years.
Published in the Journal of Obesity, the results indicate that obesity and poor parental education, low family income and lack of physical activity are major risk factors for overweight or obesity in young people. But lack of sleep in children is clearly linked to a morbid increase in body mass index, according to the study’s authors, including obesity expert Angelo Tremblay.
Compared to children who sleep 12 to 13 hours a day, those who sleep only 8 to 10 hours a day are twice as likely to be overweight or obese.
These young people were participating in the Québec en Forme program2 which encourages physical and sports activity, especially in disadvantaged areas. Among them, 20% of boys and 24% of girls were overweight or obese. To obtain these results, the researchers measured the weight, height, body mass index and waist circumference of the participants. They also conducted telephone interviews with the parents of these children.
Quebec researchers point out that the prevalence of childhood obesity continues to increase in developed countries and that the marked tendency to reduce sleep time could explain, at least in part, this epidemic of obesity in children. .
According to the authors of the study, lack of sleep is a risk factor that can be changed and which must now be taken into account in programs to combat obesity. They believe that the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity would be very profitable from a social standpoint.
These results confirm other data indicating that sleep deprivation would encourage eating more to compensate for the decrease in energy felt by the body. It was recently discovered that when deprived of sleep, the body produces less leptin and more ghrelin, two hormones that help to modulate appetite: leptin calms appetite while ghrelin stimulates hunger. We would therefore tend to eat more and, therefore, gain weight3.4. Rather, it seems to confirm the old saying of popular wisdom: “who sleeps dines”.
Note that this study by Laval University was funded by the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation and the Government of Quebec.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Chaput JP, Brunet M, Tremblay A. Relationship between short sleeping hours and childhood overweight / obesity: results from the ‘Quebec en Forme’ Project.Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Mar 14; [Epub ahead of print]
2. Québec en forme is funded, in part, by the André and Lucie Chagnon Foundation, of which PasseportSanté.net is a subsidiary.
3. Spiegel K, Tasali E, Penev P, Van Cauter E. Brief communication: Sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite.Ann Intern Med. 2004 Dec 7; 141 (11): 846-50.
4. Taheri S, Lin L, Austin D, Young T, Mignot E. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin, elevated ghrelin, and increased body mass index.PLoS Med. 2004 Dec; 1 (3): e62. Epub 2004 Dec 7.
