Study shows link between lack of sleep and increased body fat in children

As reported on the Harvard Medical School’s website, a new study by Pop Center affiliated faculty members Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPH and Matthew W. Gillman, MD, SM published in Pediatrics shows a strong link between chronic lack sleep (from infancy through mid-childhood) and increased body fat.

More TV viewing (and among racial/ethnic minority children, the presence of a bedroom TV) was associated with shorter sleep from infancy to mid-childhood.

According to a recent study co-authored by Harvard Pop Center-affiliated faculty members Matthew W. Gillman, MD, SM, and Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPH, more TV viewing (and among racial/ethnic minority children, the presence of a bedroom TV) was associated with shorter sleep from infancy to mid-childhood.