研究表明，6歲以下的兒童晚睡與肥胖有關(guān)

研究表明，6歲以下的兒童晚睡與肥胖有關(guān)

A new study has linked a later bedtime with an increased risk of obesity for kids -- although the researchers say parents shouldn't rush to put their preschoolers to sleep earlier as a result.

一項(xiàng)新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，晚睡會(huì)增加兒童肥胖的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，盡管研究人員表示，父母不應(yīng)該因此急于讓學(xué)齡前兒童早睡。

Instead, concerned moms and dads should focus on maintaininga regular routine when it comes to scheduling meal and bed times, said Dr. Claude Marcus, a professor of pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and an author of the study, which published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics.

瑞典卡羅林斯卡學(xué)院的兒科學(xué)教授克勞德·馬庫斯博士說，憂心忡忡的父母們在安排吃飯和睡覺時(shí)間時(shí)，應(yīng)該把重點(diǎn)放在保持規(guī)律的作息上。他也是周二發(fā)表在《兒科學(xué)》雜志上的這項(xiàng)研究的作者之一。

The research, which was part of a wider study on obesity, focused on 107 children in Sweden, with 64 of the children having a parent who classified as overweight or obese.

這項(xiàng)研究是一項(xiàng)更廣泛的肥胖研究的一部分，研究對象是瑞典的107名兒童，其中64名兒童的父母都是超重或肥胖。

The researchers monitored each child's weight, height and waist circumference from ages one to six; all of the children had similar measurements when the study started. Sleep was measured for seven consecutive days once a year for the length of the study by using a tracker worn on the child's wrist.

研究人員監(jiān)測了每個(gè)孩子從1歲到6歲的體重、身高和腰圍;當(dāng)研究開始時(shí)，所有的孩子都有相似的測量值。在整個(gè)研究過程中，研究人員通過佩戴在孩子手腕上的追蹤器，每年一次，連續(xù)7天測量孩子的睡眠情況。

They found that children who habitually went to sleep late -- defined by the researchers as past 9 p.m. --had a wider waist and higher BMI (body mass index) by the end of the study.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，習(xí)慣晚睡的兒童(研究人員定義為晚上9點(diǎn)以后)在研究結(jié)束時(shí)腰圍更粗，身體質(zhì)量指數(shù)(BMI)更高。

"This late bedtime was one factor that really stood out. It was associated with increased weight," said Marcus. "However, what we can see is [only]an association. If you put your kids to bed earlier, would it change anything? That's something we don't know."

“這么晚才睡覺是一個(gè)非常突出的因素。它與體重增加有關(guān)，”馬庫斯說。“然而，我們看到的只是一種關(guān)聯(lián)。如果你讓你的孩子早點(diǎn)睡覺，會(huì)有什么改變嗎?這是我們不知道的事情。”

Marcus suggested that staying up beyond 9 p.m. could be one sign of an overall lifestyle that puts kids at greater risk of being overweight.

馬庫斯認(rèn)為，晚睡超過9點(diǎn)可能是整體生活方式的一個(gè)標(biāo)志，這種生活方式使孩子們面臨更大的超重風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

He noted that kids' bedtimes around the world vary widely -- with kids in places like Spain and some parts of Asia habitually staying up much later than the study's cut-off time.

他指出，世界各地孩子的就寢時(shí)間差別很大，西班牙和亞洲部分地區(qū)的孩子習(xí)慣性地比研究規(guī)定的就寢時(shí)間晚很多。

"My personal hypothesis is that this is more of a marker of a more irregular life," he said.

“我個(gè)人的假設(shè)是，這更像是一種不規(guī)律生活的標(biāo)志，”他說。

In a linked commentary on the research, Dr. Nicole Glaser and Dr. Dennis Styne, both pediatric endocrinologists at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, California, said it was possible that obesity and inadequate sleep might be due to other influences, such as "excess screen time, inadequate exercise, or less vigilance overall about health habits."

加州薩克拉門托加州大學(xué)戴維斯分校健康中心的兒科內(nèi)分泌學(xué)家妮可·格拉澤博士和丹尼斯·斯泰恩博士在一篇相關(guān)的評論文章中說，肥胖和睡眠不足可能是由于其他因素造成的，如“過多的屏幕時(shí)間、不充分的運(yùn)動(dòng)或?qū)】盗?xí)慣的整體警惕性較低”家庭的一部分。”

However, they added that it was possible there could be a physical link. That's because some of the brain regions involved in regulating sleep and wake cycles also manage eating and fasting behavior.

然而，他們補(bǔ)充說，有可能存在物理聯(lián)系。這是因?yàn)榇竽X中調(diào)節(jié)睡眠和覺醒周期的一些區(qū)域也管理著進(jìn)食和禁食行為。

"Sleep and body weight regulation are therefore intricately intertwined on multiple levels," wrote Glaser and Styne.

“因此，睡眠和體重調(diào)節(jié)在多個(gè)層面上錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜地交織在一起，”格拉澤和斯泰恩寫道。

A major limitation of the study was the small number of children involved.

這項(xiàng)研究的一個(gè)主要局限是涉及的兒童人數(shù)太少。

However, the researchers were able to objectively measure sleep characteristics via the wrist tracker rather than relying on information relayed by parents and children, something Marcus said is often unreliable.

然而，研究人員能夠通過手腕追蹤器客觀地測量睡眠特征，而不是依賴于父母和孩子傳遞的信息，馬庫斯說這通常是不可靠的。

Previous research has found that a shorter sleep duration is linked to an increased risk of obesity in childhood. However, the study from Marcus' team found that no matter how long a child slept, going to bed after 9 p.m. was associated with an increased of obesity and a higher BMI.

先前的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，較短的睡眠時(shí)間與兒童肥胖風(fēng)險(xiǎn)增加有關(guān)。然而，馬庫斯團(tuán)隊(duì)的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，無論孩子睡了多長時(shí)間，晚上9點(diǎn)以后睡覺都會(huì)增加肥胖和更高的BMI。

While children of overweight or obese parents were more likely to be overweight, the study found that these children did not sleep differently than their peers.

盡管父母超重或肥胖的孩子更有可能超重，但研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些孩子的睡眠與他們的同齡人沒有什么不同。

In adults, Marcus said that irregular sleep and less sleep have been associated with a greater risk of obesity, with some suggestion that people who sleep less eat more.

馬庫斯說，在成年人中，睡眠不規(guī)律和睡眠不足與肥胖的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更大有關(guān)，有些人認(rèn)為睡眠少的人吃得多。

"The causality is difficult to establish. It could also be an effect of stress, rather than sleep," Marcus said.

“因果關(guān)系很難確定。這也可能是壓力的結(jié)果，而不是睡眠，”馬庫斯說。

The study said that efforts to prevent obesity should pay more attention to sleep as it appears to be involved in a family's vulnerability to the development of obesity.

該研究稱，在預(yù)防肥胖的努力中，應(yīng)該更多地關(guān)注睡眠，因?yàn)樗咚坪跖c一個(gè)家庭易患肥胖癥有關(guān)。