Less sleep tied to diabetes risk in children

Increasing weekday sleep duration by an hour was associated with a 0.2 lower BMI

Children who sleep less may be at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, researchers report.

Earlier studies found a link between shorter sleep and diabetes in adults, but the connection has been little studied in children.

British researchers studied 4,525 9- and 10-year olds from varying ethnic backgrounds. On average, their parents reported they slept 10 hours a night, with 95 per cent sleeping between eight and 12 hours.

The study, in Pediatrics, found that the less sleep, the more likely the children were to have higher body mass indexes (BMI), higher insulin resistance and higher glucose readings. All three are risk factors