More Parenting Caveats

Argh. As if we didn't have to worry enough already about doing the right thing when it comes to parenting our children, it turns out that letting them go to sleep later than their bedtime might get you more than just a kid who's a little tired and cranky:

Not getting enough sleep may play a role in youngsters becoming overweight, partly by disrupting normal metabolism, a doctor contends in a report released yesterday.

The current epidemic of obesity has been driven largely by environmental factors - an unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity, Dr. Shahrad Taheri of England's University of Bristol points out in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Taheri writes that research suggests that sleep may impact energy balance and that short sleep duration may lead to metabolic changes that could help fuel the development of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Great. Add it to the list, people. Add it to the list.