Health: Babies who sleep longer and wake up less during the night are less ...

Health: Babies who sleep longer and wake up less during the night are less ...
Health: Babies who sleep longer and wake up less during the night are less ...
Even newborns need a good night's sleep! Babies who snooze longer and wake up less throughout the night are less likely to be OVERWEIGHT, study finds Experts led from the Brigham and Women's Hospital studied 300 newborn kids  They monitored sleep habits and body mass indices over the first six months Overweight risk is reduced by 26 per cent by an hour's extra sleep each night The team believe regular sleep patterns help to mitigate against overeating

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Newborns who get more sleep overnight night and wake up less frequently are less likely to become overweight, a study has found.

Experts from the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital monitored the sleep habits and body mass indices of nearly 300 newborns.

The study shows that the relationship between maintaining a healthy weight and getting enough sleep — long established in adults — begins early in life.

Newborns who get more sleep overnight night — and wake up less frequently — are less likely to become overweight, a study has found

Newborns who get more sleep overnight night — and wake up less frequently — are less likely to become overweight, a study has found

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR BMI - AND WHAT IT MEANS 

Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on your weight in relation to your height. 

Standard Formula:

BMI = (weight in pounds / (height in inches x height in inches)) x 703

Metric Formula:

BMI = (weight in kilograms / (height in meters x height in meters))

Measurements:

Under 18.5: Underweight 18.5 - 24.9: Healthy 25 - 29.9: Overweight 30 or greater: Obese 

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The study was undertaken by epidemiologist and sleep expert Susan Redline of the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and her colleagues.

'While an association between insufficient sleep and weight gain is well-established in adults and older children, this link has not been previously recognized in infants,' explained Dr Redline.

'In this study, we found that not only shorter night-time sleep but more sleep awakenings were associated with a higher likelihood of infants becoming overweight in the first six months of life.' 

For their research, the team conducted observations of a total of 298 newborns who were delivered at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 2016–2018.

Each baby was given a so-called ankle actigraphy watch, a device capable of picking up on patterns of activity and rest over the course of multiple days. 

Dr Redline and colleagues recorded and analysed three nights' worth of data at both one and six months after birth.

The also included in their analysis sleep diaries kept by the parents detailing their offspring's sleeping and waking episodes.

Alongside this, the team calculated each child's body

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