The survey found that by the age of 12 only 34% of children were getting at least eight hours of sleep
Teenagers who sleep less than eight hours a night are more likely to be overweight or obese than their peers who usually sleep more, a new Spanish scientific study shows.
Those who don’t get enough sleep are also more likely to have a combination of other unhealthy traits, such as increased fat around the waist, increased blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and lipid levels, and more. In general, those who sleep little are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome from an early age, which increases future cardiovascular risk.
The researchers, led by Dr Jesus Martinez Gometh of the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid, who made the relevant announcement at an international conference of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, ​​studied 1,229 teenagers, who wore a special device to record their physical activity for a week.
It found that by the age of 12, only 34% of children were getting at least eight hours of sleep, and this figure dropped to 23% for 14-year-olds and 19% for 16-year-olds. Boys generally slept less than girls. Teens who slept longer also had better sleep quality and woke up less frequently during the night.
Overweight-obese rates were 27%, 24% and 21% respectively for 12, 14 and 16 year olds. Compared to those who got enough sleep, among youth who slept the fewest hours the chance of being overweight or obese was 21% and 72% higher at ages 12 and 14, respectively.
“Our study shows that most teenagers don’t get enough sleep, and this is associated with being overweight and with other characteristics that favor weight gain, which may portend future problems,” Gometh said.
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