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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : March 10, 2014 10:20 AM IST
Obese adolescents who do not get adequate sleep may be at a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke, a new study has warned. Lack of sleep and obesity has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adults and young children. However, the association is not as clear in adolescents, an age group that is known to lack adequate sleep. In a new study, researchers found that cardiometabolic risk in obese adolescents may be predicted by typical sleep patterns.
Heidi B IglayReger and colleagues from the University of Michigan and Baylor University studied 37 obese adolescents (11-17 years of age). Metabolic syndrome characteristics (fasting cholesterol and blood sugar, waist circumference, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure) were measured to create a continuous cardiometabolic risk score.
The adolescents were fitted with a physical activity monitor, which was worn 24 hours a day for seven days, to measure typical patterns of physical activity and sleep. One-third of the participants met the minimum recommendation of being physically active at least 60 minutes a day.
Most participants slept approximately seven hours each night, usually waking up at least once. Only five of the participants met the minimal recommended 8.5 hours of sleep per night. Even after controlling for factors that may impact cardiometabolic risk, like BMI and physical activity, low levels of sleep remained a significant predictor of cardiometabolic risk in obese teens.
This shows that even among those already considered to be at risk for cardiometabolic disease, in this case obese teens' decreased sleep duration was predictive of increased cardiometabolic risk, researchers said. The study cannot determine whether lack of sleep causes cardiometabolic disease or if obesity itself causes sleep disturbances, they said.
'The strong association between sleep duration and cardiometabolic risk score independent of the effects of body composition and physical activity suggest a potential influence of sleep duration on cardiometabolic health in obese adolescents,' said IglayReger.
Why is adolescent obesity on the rise?
A sedentary lifestyle, combined with a different form of entertainment which mainly consists of video games, watching television and sitting on laptops instead of playing outside is playing a big part in this. Children are also likelier to travel by cars and walk less.
Tips to beat childhood obesity
Cases of childhood obesity are on the rise these days and there are enough reasons which contribute to the growing numbers. The prime one is sedentary lifestyles. 'Children don't play outdoor games these days. There aren't many facilities for playing games like basketball, football, cricket, etc. Moreover, they have options aplenty at home like watching TV, playing video games, mobile and computer games. This reduces their physical activity to a large extent,' points out paediatrician Dr Zinal. (Also read: 5 weird and fun workouts)
She further adds that the easy availability of junk foods like pizzas, fries, burgers which are high in unsaturated fats and are difficult to digest also add to the problem. 'These days, both parents are working in most families and kids are at the mercy of maids who don't necessarily take care of their diet. Even in joint families, grandparents over pamper kids by offering sweets and chocolates which attributes to weight gain,' she says. Read more about tips to bit childhood obesity.
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