Welcome to Kids in Balance - Healthy Diet Plan for Obese Children and Childhood Obesity Prevention


The Childhood Obesity-Sleep Connection

More sleep means less weight? Absolutely. Balanced cortisol and hunger-regulating hormone levels help your child break the obesity-sleep connection and reach a healthy weight. So not only is there a connection between obesity and sleep where obesity can make sleep more difficult (i.e. a sleep apnea-obesity link), there is also an obesity-sleep connection where insufficient sleep contributes to obesity (i.e. a sleep deprivation-obesity link). Because getting a child or teen to bed on time can be a challenging endeavour, here are a few Kids in Balance (KIB) suggestions for ensuring your child is well-rested.

Obesity-Sleep Connection Tips

Sufficient sleep is essential to health and wellness. There is also increasing evidence that sleep plays a large role in obesity rates, both adult and child. I recommend putting the following four guidelines in place with your child or teen:
  • Set and keep an appropriate bedtime—most children and teens need 9-10 hours of sleep a night.
  • Establish a bedtime routine—keep it simple but a regular routine helps prepare children for sleep more easily.
  • Ensure your child's room is totally dark at night—the hormone melatonin has a variety of roles, including helping with sleep; it needs complete darkness for adequate production.
  • Keep your child's room free of electrical appliances and wireless devices—the EMFs emitted by this equipment can produce a variety of negative responses in the body, including a reduction in melatonin production.
Sufficient sleep goes a long way towards balancing cortisol levels and to ensuring the hormones that regulate hunger are kept in proper balance. Enough sleep, therefore, can often mean:
  • Better moods and attitude towards healthy lifestyle change.
  • Reduced cravings for sugar and other carbohydrates.
  • Increased energy to tackle physical activity.
There really is something to the obesity-sleep connection and that "more sleep, less weight" saying.

Need more input on dealing with childhood obesity or like additional support in helping your child reach a healthy, balanced weight? Order my Overweight Kids in a Toothpick World book. It outlines the complete Kids in Balance program in a helpful step by step way that means health really can be in your home!

Looking for additional support to go along with Overweight Kids in a Toothpick World? Purchase Coach, 12-weeks of helpful newsletters designed to provide further insight and encouragement for you and your child during each stage of the KIB journey.

You are also welcome to download the free handout, 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Get Your Kids in Balance or sign up for KIB's free Connect newsletter.

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