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Now that the kids are out of school, you might want to think about letting them sleep a little later. According to an article in OHealthy, researchers found a connection between sleeping late and fighting fat. Here’s an excerpt:

Researchers in Hong Kong found that children who got less sleep tended to be heavier (as measured by body mass index, or BMI) than children who slept more. But among children who slept less than eight hours a night, those who compensated for their weekday sleep deficit by sleeping late on weekends or holidays were significantly less likely to be overweight or obese.

The study, which confirmed previous research linking sleep deficits to obesity in children, also found that, on average, children slept significantly longer on weekends and holidays than on school weekdays. However, the overweight children tended to get less weekend/holiday sleep than their normal-weight peers.

The researchers didn’t determine why obese and overweight children were less likely to sleep late on holidays or weekends, but noted that they tended to spend more time doing homework and watching TV than their normal-weight peers.

Biological factors might also play a role in the compressed sleep cycle, they said.

“There’s a lot of evidence linking short sleep duration to higher body mass,” said Kristen Knutson, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study. “What’s unique about this study is that it’s the first to show that extending sleep on weekends may help with avoiding weight gain.”

Still, the researchers urged caution in the interpretation of their findings, acknowledging that “an irregular sleep-wake schedule and insufficient sleep among school-aged children and adolescents has been documented with a variety of serious repercussions, including increased daytime sleepiness, academic difficulties, and mood and behavioral problems.”

The precise nature of the link between short sleep duration and obesity remains unclear, said Mary A. Carskadon, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School in Providence, R.I., and director of chronobiology at Bradley Hospital in East Providence.

“Evidence has shown that there are changes in satiety and in levels of the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin,” Carskadon said. “But there’s also evidence that kids who are not getting enough sleep get less physical activity, perhaps simply because they’re too tired. It’s just not cut-and-dried.”

The study authors noted that “reduced sleep duration has become a hallmark of modern society, with people generally sleeping one to two hours less than a few decades ago.”

Experts say that adolescents and pre-pubertal children generally do best with 9.5 to 10 hours of sleep a night, younger children a bit more.

The one-year study, led by Yun Kwok Wing of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, used questionnaires to track the sleep habits, lifestyle, height and weight of 5,159 local children aged 5 to 15 years.

Click here to read the full article.

Will your tweens have a different sleep schedule this summer?

Have a parenting question? Ask Suzie!

Do you have a parenting challenge or question about what it takes to raise a tween? You’re not alone!

Join us for our monthly “Ask Suzie” feature on MomTalk where maternal and child health specialist Suzanne McCabe answers your questions.

This month, we’ve got a parenting roundtable where you can share your concerns and Suzie will offer her insight.

To RSVP, click here.

Whether it’s Monopoly, Boogle or the game of Life, playing board games aren’t just great ways to spend family fun, they are also terrific ways to boost your child’s creative skills.

According to OHealthy’s article, “For Kids, Games Can Build Strong Minds,” the proof is clear. Here’s an excerpt:

Citing the latest research on the brain, experts say chess, Scrabble, Monopoly—even jigsaw puzzles or tic-tac-toe—do more to help children build analytical, organizational and creative skills. As adults, your kids will need those abilities, which may keep their minds sharp as they reach old age.

Start early

“It’s important to get kids into the habit of enjoying engaging their minds,” says Allen Bragdon, founding editor of Games magazine and author of several books on improving brain function.

It’s like giving your children carrot sticks instead of chocolate bars. “The snacks they get while young will be the ones they seek out all their lives,” says Mr. Bragdon. “Then later they will keep using their brains to chew on all kinds of problems just for fun.”

Evidence that brains can be “age-proofed” is limited, but new studies suggest brain functions don’t necessarily decline over time. In fact, they may be strengthened by mental exercise just as muscles are strengthened by physical exertion.

Learning benefits

In children, the mental workouts of game-playing may serve as warm-ups for more serious learning. A study of third- and fourth-graders in New York City and Los Angeles found that after 45 minutes of chess lessons each day for a year, they did better on reading tests than non-players.

These and other findings that support face-to-face interaction have led the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to encourage parents to limit video and television viewing by school-age children to an hour or two a day. For infants and toddlers, the AAP says, parents should turn off the TV.

Provide stimulation

From infancy on, “you need to continue to provide stimulation for kids in a way that’s going to be productive to their overall mental capacity,” says Miriam Bar-on, M.D., associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

“Certainly in terms of socialization, they get much more from playing traditional games with someone else—and learning such things as following the rules and seeing how others approach things— than from playing computer games alone,” she says.

Visit OHealthy to read the entire article and find additional resources.

Try giving a bike next time you want to boost your child's creativity and fitness levels.

This month we’re focusing on offering tools that will help your tween become more creative. Every birthday or celebration of a special moment offers you an opportunity to boost your child’s creativity levels. OHealthy’s article, “‘Hot’ Toys May Not be the Best Present” offers some tips for parents. Here’s an excerpt:

“Parents often feel like they have to rush and get the toy of the moment,” Paula Kramer, chairman and professor of occupational therapy, said in a university news release. “These toys may be unique and novel, but they’re not always the best choice for the child, or the toy with the longest life. If a toy is static and doesn’t promote creativity, imagination and change, it will probably end up in the corner.”

When selecting a present, adults should consider a child’s specific needs and interests, as well as a toy’s potential to encourage healthy mental and physical development. Kramer also suggested looking for toys that are either at a child’s ability level or just above it to provide a challenge and promote the child’s progress.

High-tech gadgets such as video games dominate store shelves, but traditional items such as bicycles and sporting equipment help children get active and develop spatial relationships.

“Traditional toys, such as Lego, are also great, because they help build skills such as fine motor manipulation and creativity,” Kramer said. “While they come with instructions on how to build certain things, kids can choose to build anything they want.”

She also recommended that parents give the gift of their time.

“Gifts aren’t all about money, and children love spending time with their parents and other children,” Kramer said. “Whether it’s a day at the ice-skating rink, a trip to the zoo or an IOU to take them and a friend to a movie of their choice, giving a part of yourself is economical, builds positive memories and strengthens the parent-child relationship.”

Visit OHealthy to read the entire article.

What do you think would make a great toy for your tween? Please share in the comments below.

One of the most difficult boundaries these days to set is the one between work and home. With parents working late hours and bringing work home to accomodate family responsibilities, the lines begin to blur.

But the health consequences of bluring those boundaries can be high. The OHealthy article, “Seek Success, But Skip the Stress” looks at how one parent of two handled the situation. Here’s an excerpt:

As if being a single mother of two weren’t enough, Krista Kurth was a high-powered consultant at a major accounting firm who was taking night classes toward a degree in organizational development. But when her body shut down with chronic fatigue syndrome, she realized that no motor could keep running without a pit stop.

Her two-year quest to recover taught her a lesson. The formula for success, she learned, must include mental and physical rest.

Millions of Americans have yet to grasp that fact. They believe that longer hours at work, combined with less recreation and relaxation, will lead them up the corporate ladder. The truth is that unchecked stress hinders more than it helps.

“People have the sense that they’re important and successful if they’re busy,” says Dr. Kurth (yes, she went on to earn that Ph.D.) She also co-authored Running on Plenty: Renewal Strategies for Individuals, which offers advice on staying energized despite work demands.

Machines can run around the clock. But Dr. Kurth and co-author Suzanne Adele Schmidt, Ph.D., emphasize that people are living organisms who must stop and refuel to work properly. By not taking brief, hourly breaks, they say, you could take up to five times longer to complete tasks and grow more likely to make mistakes.

Research backs them up. In one study, 69 percent of people who reported feeling highly stressed on the job said the stress made them less productive, workplace stress expert Charles Spielberger, Ph.D., wrote in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. About half of those stressed-out people said they had suffered burnout, job-related medical problems or both.

A state of alert

Overwhelming paperwork, deadlines, meetings, phone calls, and e-mails cause your brain to order the production of hormones that put your body in a state of alert. Whether you know it or not, your body pools its resources to deal with the threat causing the stress. Your muscles tense, you breathe harder and your heart beats faster.

If this keeps up too long, your body cracks under the pressure. The result? Headaches, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, short tempers, upset stomachs, and lower morale. All are early warning signs of job stress, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Some studies suggest this stress can lead to heart disease, depression, anxiety, muscle pain, cancer, ulcers, a weakened immune system, and even suicide.

“It’s a big problem and it’s growing,” says Dr. Spielberger, director of the University of South Florida’s Center for Research and Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology. “The world continues to change faster and faster, which puts more pressure on people to try to keep up.”

Visit OHealthy to read the entire article.