Two items of note today in regard to childhood obesity: A study by scientists at the Université Laval (article in French; English summary here) has concluded that amount of sleep was the prime factor in determining childhood obesity among children five to ten years old. In the study of 422 children, those who got less than 10 hours of sleep per night were 3.5 times as likely to be obese than those who got over 12 hours. No other factor studied—parental obesity, education, family income, activity level (including time in front of the TV or computer)—had as much of an effect on obesity as amount of sleep. The researchers speculate this is because of differing levels and types of hormone production while sleeping. (Thanks to Blogging Baby for the sighting.)
Forbes, meanwhile, reports on a study from the journal Pediatrics, which finds there is a shortage of safe car seats for overweight children. They say about 283,000 one- to six-year-old children would have difficulty finding a safe car seat because of their combined age and weight. There’s a socioeconomic factor, as well: most (182,661) of the children who would have trouble were 3 years old and weighed more than 40 pounds. For this group and weight, there are apparently only four appropriate car seats available, priced at $240 to $270. (The AP, via Yahoo! News, offers details on some of these models.) This is the high end of car seat pricing—but it’s low-income families who are more at risk for injuries and more likely to be overweight, the study claims.
I’m thinking McDonald’s should offer free, appropriately sized car seats with every Happy Meals purchase.
