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# Short Sleep Duration Linked to Obesity, but Why?
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/short_sleep_duration_linked_to_obesity_but_why_090720100918/
- Published: 2010-09-07T10:14:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T12:58:52.000Z
- Description: Tracking 1,930 U.S. children over five years, researchers found too little nighttime sleep in infants and preschoolers predicted later overweight or obesity, while among older children only sleep at follow-up tracked with weight gain. Napping did not substitute. The study is observational.
- Author: Jimmy Downs
- Tags: Obesity, Avoiding Illness, #vivvo-import

A new study published in the September issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that children who do not have sufficient nighttime sleep may boost their risk of childhood obesity.  
  
The study, led by Janice F. Bell of the University of Washington in Seattle, and Frederick J. Zimmerman of the University of California, Los Angeles, also found that daytime napping does not compensate for insufficient nighttime sleep in terms of preventing obesity.  
  
The study included 1,930 U.S. children in two age groups, the first was comprised of children from 1 to 50 months; the other ages 5 to 13 years. Data was collected at baseline in 1997 and five years later in 2002.  
  
At the follow-up, 33 percent of children in the younger group and 36 percent of children in the older group were either overweight or obese.  
  
Among the younger children, lack of sufficient nighttime sleep at baseline was linked with increased risk for later obesity or overweight.  
  
Among the older children, sleep duration at baseline was not associated with body weight at follow-up. However, a lack of sufficient nighttime sleep at follow-up was still linked with an elevated risk of shift from normal weight to overweight and from overweight to obesity.  
  
The researchers wrote, "Insufficient nighttime sleep among infants and preschool-aged children appears to be a lasting risk factor for subsequent obesity, while contemporaneous sleep appears to be important to weight status in adolescents."  
  
"Napping had no effects on the development of obesity and is not a substitute for sufficient nighttime sleep."  
  
This is an observational study, which in no way could prove that lack of sufficient nighttime sleep or shortened nighttime sleep increases risk of obesity.  
  
Studies have suggested that eating high fat dinners and snacking at night may be responsible for the increased risk of childhood obesity.  
  
A Chinese case-control study led by Tian Z and colleagues from Tianjin Women and Children’s Health Center found that children who had shorter sleep duration were likely to have hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar.  
  
The study, published in the Jan 2010 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, compared 619 obese children with 617 non-obese children for their blood sugar levels.  
  
The researchers found those who were obese and slept for eight hours or less were more likely to have hyperglycemia or high blood sugar than those who were not obese and slept for nine hours or more.  
  
But Nishiura C and colleagues from Tokyo Gas Co Ltd in Tokyo Japan published a study in the June 2010 issue of Sleep saying that fatty foods, skipping breakfast, snacking and eating out are all only partially responsible for the effects of short sleep duration on the incidence of obesity. The study involved adult male workers.  
  
Other factors may also influence the odds for children to have shorter sleep duration.  
  
A Japanese study led by Komada Y and colleagues from Tokyo Medical University found that irregular sleeping mothers tended to have irregular sleeping children in both of the following age groups: 1 to 5 years and 6 to 11 years.  
  
Additionally, the researchers found that fathers’ sleeping habits also affected the sleeping habits of their children ages 1 to 5 years, even though the mothers' sleeping habits had the heavier influence over the sleeping habits of their children.  
  
The authors pointed out that irregular sleeping habits can affect children's dietary routines, which may ultimately lead to over-consumption of calories.  
  
The study was published in the Oct 2009 issue of The Tohoku journal of Experimental Medicine.  
  
Another study conducted by Shi Z and colleagues from the University of Newcastle in Australia and published in the Dec 2008 issue of International Journal of Obesity found that adults who had decreased sleep duration tended to be more likely to increase their intake of fat. It is unknown, however, how sleep duration would affect children's dietary habits.
  
  
by Jimmy Downs, Editing by Rachel Stockton