Your child: their sleep and their weight

Did you know...?

The length and the quality of your sleep can affect your weight …..and a weight problem can lead to sleep problems.

Sleep and weight are strongly connected in children, adolescents and adults.

Not getting enough sleep can change how your hormones work leaving you more likely to have a bigger appetite and gain weight.

It can also be hard to stay positive and focused on making healthy lifestyle changes if you are not getting enough sleep.

Generally primary school age children need a lot of sleep – often more than you think! (For more information on normal sleep patterns see http://kidshealth.chw.edu.au/fact-sheets/normal-sleep-patterns-0-16-years).

Getting that extra bit of sleep can often help children who have weight issues to lose weight.

If you are not sure what time your child should go to bed:

• first, work out what time they need to get up in the morning so that they have enough time to sit down and eat breakfast and do other essential things before starting the day
• then count back between 10 and 12 hours.

What can I do to help my child get a better night's sleep?

There are many things which a family can do to help a child sleep better. Some important strategies include:

Physical Activity

Regular exercise helps sleep (a lot).

Routine, routine and more routine

Having a set way of doing things every night really does help kids get to sleep. For example, the family routine might be dinner, bath, books and bed.

The more consistent you are with falling asleep and wake up times, the better. So ideally, even on weekends, the children should not stay up or sleep in too late.

It also helps if the kids sleep in their own bed. To avoid daytime naps, encourage your child to stay off the bed during the day.

A period of time for winding down with a "shut down" of all electronic devices

Reading books or telling stories is a much more effective way of settling a child down rather than letting them watch T.V. or DVDs or play computer games. "Screen Time" should stop at least one hour before bed time.

Do not have a television or game console in the bedroom.

Often kids do resist going to bed and can be a bit disruptive at bedtime. It's really important to stay low key and calm. If children get up then persistently take them back to bed.

So:

As a family talk about the possible need to develop better sleep habits then put some strategies into action.

If you have any concerns about your child's sleep, please speak with your doctor or one of the other health professionals involved in treating your child. It is particularly important to talk to your doctor if children are snoring or sound like they are having difficulty breathing when asleep.

• Helping your child to sleep for longer may also help them to lose weight.
• Try not letting your child interact with electronic devices during that settling down/going to sleep period.