研究顯示 睡眠少或導致兒童肥胖

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have found that children who go to bed later and sleep less are more likely to be more overweight.

伯明翰大學的研究人員發現，晚睡和睡眠較少的兒童更有可能超重。

Birmingham's research into the sleeping habits of 2,795 youngsters, aged 9 to 12, from the city of Guangzhou showed a link between sleep duration and the amount of body fat.

伯明翰大學對廣州市2795名9-12歲青少年的睡眠習慣進行的研究顯示，睡眠時長與體脂量之間存在關聯。

Research also indicated that the Chinese children were sleeping less than youngsters in the US and Europe - differences which may be a result of a focus on studying and academic achievement in China.

該研究還表明，中國兒童較美國和歐洲的青少年睡眠更少，這或許是由中國注重學習和成績所造成的。

In the study funded by Guangzhou Medical Foundation, Birmingham scientists worked with Chinese counterparts at Sun Yat-Sen University and Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

這項由廣州醫學基金會資助的研究，是由伯明翰大學的科學家，與中山大學、廣州疾病控制與預防中心的中國同行一道合作完成的。

Their findings show that children sleeping longer have lower Body Mass Index (BMI) scores than those sleeping less. For every hour later that a child goes to bed, their BMI score increases by a small amount.

他們的研究結果表明，睡眠時間較長的孩子的身體質量指數（BMI），要比那些睡眠較少的孩子的低一些。因爲一個孩子每晚上牀睡覺一小時，他們的身體質量指數就會稍微有所增長。

"There are complex factors contributing to childhood obesity, but increasing observational research reports that shorter sleep duration may be an additional risk factor associated with higher body mass index among children," said Professor Chen Yajun, from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-Sen University.

中山大學公共衛生學院教授陳亞軍表示：“造成兒童肥胖的因素很複雜，但越來越多的觀察研究稱，睡眠時間較短或許是造成兒童體重指數偏高的另一個風險因素。”