Study shows children with less sleep may be at risk for obesity

NBC News — Children who don’t get enough sleep may be at an increased risk for obesity.

Researchers used parent surveys to assess children’s sleep patterns throughout early childhood.

By the age of seven, kids who had the lowest overall sleep scores had the highest levels of body fat, abdominal fat, and body mass.

There was no specific age range in which reduced sleep had a greater influence on weight gain suggesting insufficient sleep at any age was problematic.

Minority children, those living in low income homes, and those with less educated mothers, were most likely to have chronic sleep deprivation.