ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — A well rested baby is a happy baby. Good sleep also promotes growth, heart health, boosted learning, and longer attention span. Now, new research is showing sleep education is more important than ever.
Parents and experts know how important sleep is for a baby’s mind.
Katie Kovaleski, pediatric sleep consultant, told Ivanhoe, “Sleep is when they get to digest everything that they’ve learned throughout the day. It’s when they grow and develop cognitively.”
But researchers are now linking babies’ sleep to obesity risks. A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when parents got hands-on education and advice about sleep, their newborns had half the risk of developing obesity by ages three and five. In another similar study, babies whose parents were educated on other topics such as nutrition, but not sleep had more rapid weight gain. Educating parents on sleep cut those risks in half.
Experts say you can look for a pediatric sleep consultant in your area
“There are options and there’s no reason anyone should have to be miserable and sleep deprived and not enjoy parenting,” Kovaleski said.
Researchers say that while it’s unclear how better sleep leads to lower obesity rates, it may be because less disruptive sleep affects metabolism, or because of less feedings throughout the night.
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Hayley Hudson, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor.
To receive a free weekly email on Smart Living from Ivanhoe, sign up at: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
