Children, Weight, and Sleep Problems
Your child's weight problem can influence his ability to get a good night's sleep. There's also some clinical evidence that a lack of proper sleep can contribute to weight gain, which could place your child in an endless sleepless-night/weight-gain cycle. And sleep deprivation has been linked to increased insulin resistance, a risk factor for and symptom of Type 2 diabetes.
A tired child is naturally less interested in and energized for exercise. Fatigue can affect cognitive function and impair your child's ability to make clear-headed decisions about food and other fitness-related choices. Overweight children are also at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that disrupts their breathing during the night and results in fitful or broken sleep.
While exercise in the morning or afternoon is thought to promote better sleep, exercise too close to bedtime can interfere with your child's ability to get to sleep. Refrain from vigorous aerobic activity up to four hours before bed. Exercise that promotes relaxation, such as some forms of yoga, is fine closer to bedtime.
Stages of Sleep
There are five stages of sleep that are differentiated by depth of sleep and brain wave patterns. The first stage is that initial five to ten minutes of drowsiness, or drifting off to sleep. Stage two is when the heart rate and brain waves slow and you are in light sleep. Stages three and four are considered deep sleep and are characterized by delta waves (also called slow-wave sleep). Finally, stage-five sleep is when dreaming occurs. This is also called REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep.
The stages cycle several times throughout a single sleep session. Sleep stages one through four usually last between ninety minutes to two hours, with each stage lasting anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. When the first REM sleep occurs, it only lasts a short time (about ten minutes). Then the cycle repeats, and the REM sleep periods grow progressively longer until they reach about an hour shortly before waking.
Children whose sleep cycles are cut short, or who repeatedly wake up during the night and don't get adequate deep sleep or REM sleep, can have problems with learning, concentration, mood swings, and memory. Long-term sleep deprivation also puts them at greater risk for heart disease.
More Homework
If your child seems to be having problems getting adequate sleep, it's a good idea to keep track of her sleep habits with a sleep diary over a period of a week. You can have her add the information to her fitness journal, which will also allow you to see how her sleep patterns influence her eating and exercise and vice versa. Include information on bedtime and wake-up times, how your child feels upon awakening (tired and irritable or rested and refreshed?), the number of times she recalls awakening in the night, if any, and her general mood and disposition during the day. Running a tape recorder in her room or using a baby monitor can help you detect possible snoring, which could be a sign of sleep apnea.
