Researchers collected data from over 2,000 children with ages between three and eighteen. The results are based on the diaries kept by parents or children themselves where they kept a record of bedtime, hours of sleep, or time of waking up.

An extra hour of sleep may help young children by reducing the risk of becoming overweight from thirty-six to thirty percent. For older children, an extra hour of sleep reduces the risk from thirty-four to thirty percent, according to the study’s lead author, Emily Snell.

The results were not influenced gender, ethnicity, income, or race. They showed that late bedtime for children with ages from three to eight are strongly connected to weight gain. Unlike the other children, those with ages between eight and thirteen are more predisposed to weight gain if they wake up too early.

Specialists showed that American youngsters don`t get enough sleep. Children by the age of seven sleep almost ten hours per night, those by the age of fourteen sleep about eight hours and half while children with ages of thirteen to eighteen sleep less than seven hours per night. To read the rest of this article, go to ProjectWeightLoss.com an online weight loss community featuring calorie counter, carbs counter, BMI calculator, diet planner, workout planner and nutritional information. (c) ProjectWeightLoss.com 2007. All rights reserved.