A recent study has revealed that short sleep times in patients with chronic medical diagnoses increases the risk of obesity.
The researchers surveyed 200 patients attending internal medicine clinics about their sleep habits, lifestyle characteristics, and medical diagnoses.
The findings revealed people with a sleep time of less than seven hours had a notably increased possibility of obesity defined by a body mass index compared to the reference group of eight to nine hours.
Britain’s Minister for Children, Beverly Hughes, has warned that the problem of obesity is on the rise among kids because they are spending less time in playgrounds and more before computers and social networking websites.
Hughes urged parents not be over-protective and to encourage their kids to take up outdoor activities.
A new study has shown that the obesity epidemic among Australian children has been grossly overstated, and that the problem is concentrated among poorer families and some ethnic groups.
The study has revealed that children from low-income families are twice as likely to be obese as children from high-income families.
