Education Certain rules protect children from being overweight

How do routines affect the weight of our children??
Many parents know this problem for sure: children still want to stay awake in the evening and go to bed as late as possible. Researchers now found that irregular bed times can contribute to children becoming overweight later in life.

Ohio State University researchers found that children should go to bed regularly every evening. This reduces the risk of becoming overweight later in life. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "International Journal of Obesity".

Obesity and obesity are bad for human health. Experts found that irregular sleeping time in childhood can make those more likely to become overweight and obese. (Image: kwanchaichaiudom / fotolia.com)

Routines affect the later weight
For their study, the researchers studied the habits of nearly 11,000 British children, all of whom were born between the year 2000 and the year 2002. The experts found a connection between daily routines, emotions and weight. For example, it has been found that eating meals at the same time every day and less than half an hour of watching television every day helps reduce the risk of obesity in later life, the researchers said in a press release.

Effects of routine at meals, while sleeping and watching TV
The current study was the first to investigate the potential association between early childhood routines and later overweight or obesity. The study examined the effects of three household routines on three-year-olds, the researchers say. These included a regular bedtime, regular meals and television viewing times of less than an hour daily.

Children with low emotional regulation later become more likely to be obese
All three routines studied were clearly associated with better emotional self-regulation. This is considered a measure of how easily a child reacts frustrated or over-stimulated. Children with less emotional regulation are more likely to suffer from obesity later in life, explain the physicians.

Irregular sleep times of children increase the risk of obesity
The study found that irregular bedtime during school hours may increase the risk of obesity at the age of eleven. We noticed that children with the most difficulties in regulating their emotions at the age of three, more often at the age of eleven, were suffering from obesity, explains the author. Sarah Anderson from Ohio State University.

Investigation leads to a better understanding of how routines can affect you
"The current research allows us to better understand how sleep, mealtaking and TV behavior routines affect the regulation of emotions and behavior," adds the expert.

Researchers are finding more and more links between obesity and poor sleep
Sleep is generally very important for humans and sleep is especially important for children. There are many unknown factors about how sleep can affect metabolism and in recent years, researchers have found more and more links between obesity and poor sleep. (As)