A close connection has been found between quality of life and sleep problems in school going children. According to a study carried out by researchers in the US, school children who are obese often report problems with sleep.
Scientists carried out this study at the St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, US. The chief scientist, Kelly Ann Davis, gave questionnaires to care takers of about 100 school children in the age group 8-12 years. The care takers of these children filled the questionnaires with exact details about sleep patterns and problems faced by the children in their care.
It was observed by scientists that obese children actually reported more problems with sleep than children with a healthy body weight. Davis said, “In this study, sleep and weight each contributed unique variance for quality of life scores, thus indicating the need to evaluate daytime functioning in children with both obesity and sleep problems.”
While the number of adults having to deal with obesity is on the increase, the number of obese children is also increasing at an alarming rate. This is becoming a matter of huge concern, as children who are obese are more likely to develop or maintain this condition into adulthood. This will inevitably increase the number of people suffering form heart disease and diabetes in the coming years, as obesity is one of the leading causes of these conditions.
In children, obesity can lead to development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which can cause breathing problems during sleep. This disorder can stop the process of breathing while the person is sleeping. If this sleep disorder is left untreated, then it can cause complications or even be fatal.
What are the main causes of Obesity?
The main cause of obesity among people is mainly their irregular lifestyle. People often neglect the need for physical activity in their life, because of a lack of time. In addition they people eat all types of food, which are normally unhealthy which makes maintaining a healthy body weight extra hard. There are some environmental and genetic factors that also play a role in increasing obesity.
People report many obesity-related diseases, which can even prove fatal in many cases... The reports of sleep problems due to childhood obesity is reason to worry,, as it shows the poor health of a nation as a whole. There is a strong need to promote healthy lifestyle among people especially children in order to get rid of the menace of child obesity and the adult obesity.
