Researchers at Brigham & Women’s Hospital are finding that newborns who get more sleep, and who wake up less at night, are more likely to maintain a normal weight.
Scientists have long thought that getting enough sleep at night is essential for staying healthy no matter your age. Now, for the first time, researchers have found this to be true for infants.
Not getting enough sleep leads to weight gain in adults, said study co-author Susan Redline, MD, MPH, senior physician in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at the Brigham, and “in this study, we found that not only shorter nighttime sleep, but more sleep awakenings, were associated with a higher likelihood of infants becoming overweight in the first six months of life.”
Redline and colleagues observed 298 newborns born at Massachusetts General Hospital between 2016 and 2018. They monitored their sleep patterns using ankle actigraphy watches that measure activity and rest. They took data points after three nights of sleep and again at 1 month and 6 months.
Tracking each infant’s height and weight, newborns were deemed overweight if they measured at or above the 95th percentile on the World Health Organization’s growth charts.
Researchers found that just one additional hour of sleep correlated with a 26% decrease in an infants’ risk of being overweight. Also, those babies who slept more through the night had a lower risk of excess weight gain. What researchers don’t yet understand the “why,” they think that when babies sleep more, they are fed on a more regular basis.
“This study underscores the importance of healthy sleep at all ages,” said Redline. “Parents should consult their pediatricians on the best practices to promote healthy sleep, like keeping consistent sleep schedules, providing a dark and quiet space for sleeping, and avoiding having bottles in bed.”
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