A good rest is essential for the healthy development of babies, children and adolescents, so it is very important to respect the recommended sleep times according to their age, because as we have said before, sleeping little in childhood could affect cognitive development .
Now, a new study found that the repercussions of a bad rest can affect health even many years later, as they discovered that having irregular resting hours in childhood could negatively affect physical health in adolescence.
Published in the SLEEP journal of the University of Oxford, the results of this study suggest that Sleep habits during childhood could predict teenage sleep patterns as well as their Body Mass Index (BMI).
The researchers separated the children into groups, according to their bedtime and sleep routines, and made longitudinal associations for each group with their body mass index. A third of the participating children, whose ages ranged from five to nine years, adhered to the appropriate rest hours for their ages.
It was found that those who did not have a sleeping routine at nine years, slept less time and had a higher BMI at 15 years of age, compared to those who did respect the recommended daily rest schedules.
In addition to discovering this relationship between rest during childhood and health in adolescence, it was found that Those children who had established sleep routines and schedules during childhood continued with this good habit during adolescence., thus obtaining the necessary rest also during that stage.
In Babies and more Children who sleep a few hours may have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes This study supports and remembers the importance of respecting the recommendations of keeping constant or regular sleeping schedules and that are appropriate for all ages to ensure healthy development.
