Recent research

Recent research in Hong Kong indicates that staying in bed after a long week at school is just what children need to avoid becoming obese, The research, which focused on children aged five to fifteen, discovered that those who slept late on Saturdays and Sundays decreased the probability of having weight problems as they grew up. Published in the journal Paediatrics, the findings add to previous research that indicated a connection between regular sleep deprivation and obesity.

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The scientists involved believe the weekend lie-in is vital for school-age children to catch up on the sleep they lose during a busy week at school. This catch up sleep helps the children to regulate calorie consumption by cutting down on eating snacks during waking hours, Scientists and others in the medical fields have long known that a lack of sleep and irregular sleep patterns causes obesity as this combination affects the body’s natural metabolism and tends to also encourage snacking to reduce the feeling of tiredness. However, this is thought to be the first time researchers have found sleeping in at weekends to be a key factor in helping ‘reset’ children’s sleeping patterns.

Since the 1980s, obesity rates among children in the UK and in the United States have been on the rise and medical and childcare experts fear a diabetes and heart disease epidemic is developing. Although estimates for obesity rates have recently been lowered, current expectations are that close to one in three boys aged from two to eleven are likely to be overweight or obese by the year 2020. The prediction for girls is slightly over one in four, a much lower prediction than ten years ago when forecasts were that almost half would be overweight.

The relationship between sleep deficiency and obesity has been drawing much attention in the past several years with studies showing that sleeping just a few hours a night can seriously disturb the body’s natural metabolism, leading to an increase in overall calorie intake and a much greater danger of weight-related illnesses. Yun Kwok Wing of Hong Kong University and other experts investigated the possibility that catching up on sleep at the weekends would help youngsters to overcome such disruption of the bodies metabolism. They questioned the parents of over 5,000 schoolchildren and accumulated data on diet, lifestyle, weight and sleeping habits. During school time, the average amount of sleep was a little over nine hours on average. However, a surprising number of kids slept well under eight hours a night.

What the researchers found most interesting was that those children who managed to catch up on missed sleep on the weekend actually remained relatively slim while those who did not had a higher probability of putting on weight (as measured by body mass index, or BMI). A report the researches published revealed: “Overweight and obese children tended to wake up earlier and had shorter sleep durations throughout weekdays, weekends and holidays than their normal-weight peers. Our study suggests sleeping longer on weekends or holidays could lower the risk of being overweight or obese.”

The study authors mentioned that reduced sleep duration has become a hallmark of modern society, with people generally sleeping one to two hours less than a few decades ago and children were no exception to this. However, the researchers were not quite sure why obese and overweight children were less likely to sleep late on weekends, but indicated that they tended to spend more time doing their homework and watching television than their normal- weight peers. Still, the researchers urged caution in the interpretation of their findings, acknowledging that “an irregular sleep-wake schedule and insufficient sleep among school-aged children and adolescents has been documented with a variety of serious repercussions, including increased daytime sleepiness, academic difficulties, and mood and behavioral problems.”

The precise nature of the link between short sleep duration and obesity remains unclear, said Mary A. Jackson, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School in Providence, and Director of Chronobiology at Bradley Hospital in East Providence. “Evidence has shown that there are changes in satiety and in levels of the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin,” Jackson said. “But there’s also evidence that kids who are not getting enough sleep get less physical activity, perhaps simply because they’re too tired. It’s just not cut-and-dried.” The findings could be of help in slowing down the ongoing increase in childhood obesity, but for the time being, parents should be observant of their children’s wake-sleep cycles, and take steps to ensure they are getting enough sleep, the researchers advised. Perhaps this is a reminder to us all that despite school, homework, extracurricular activities, and family time, sleep still needs to be a priority in a child’s life.

SECTION 2: QUESTIONS 13-25

Questions 13-15

Choose THREEletters A-G.

Write your answers in boxes 13-15on your answer sheet.

NB Your answers may be given in any order.

Which THREEof the following statements are true of the research in Hong Kong?

AResearchers discovered that overweight children tend to sleep more.

BThe researchers believe the weekend lie-in is very important for busy children.

CThe findings show that overweight children tend to wake up earlier and sleep less.

DObesity in children may be triggered by a fluctuation in sleep patterns.

EThe researchers do not know the reasons why obese children are less likely to sleep late on weekends.

FThe researchers interviewed the children’s teachers to gain information.

GAll children investigated slept more than eight hours a day.

Questions 16-21

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs A-G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-Gin boxes 16-21.

16________________ Predictions on rates of obesity in children.

17________________ An outline of the most notable research finding.

18________________ Ideas on why overweight children don’t sleep in on weekends.

19________________ How sleeping in on weekends can help a child keep slim.

20________________ A study looking into sleep deprivation and the affect on body metabolism.

21________________ Advice for parents concerned about their children becoming overweight.

Questions 22-25

Complete the summary with the list of words A-Lbelow.

Write the correct letter A-Lin boxes 22-25on your answer sheet.

ArecentBpastClostDgainEputFdifficultyGinconclusiveHrevealIremainJfutureKimmediateLpoorThe main findings of the research showed that children who were able to catch up on 22____________ sleep stayed fairly slim whereas children who did not were much more likely to 23____________ weight.

The researchers mentioned that in 24____________ times a reduction in sleep time has become common with most people sleeping an hour or two less than in the past. However, the reasons why overweight children tended to sleep less on weekends than their slimmer peers 25____________ a mystery.

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