Health · Medical Research · 2 hrs ago
Children with obesity in Spanish study slept less than peers
Researchers compared 70 children aged 3 to 15 at a clinic in Spain, including 44 with obesity and 26 of normal weight.
Children with obesity slept an average of 8.4 hours, compared with 9.1 hours for children of normal weight.
Among 55 children with available data, chronic sleep disturbances were more common in the obesity group: 39% had them, compared with 8.3% of the normal-weight group.
The obesity group also had higher insulin and blood pressure and lower HDL cholesterol, a type of cholesterol measured in the study.
A greater share of children with obesity had very low diet quality, but the study examined a small group recruited from one clinic and does not show that sleep or screen use caused obesity.
The researchers also assessed screen habits, but the available findings do not give a comparison of screen time between the groups.
A study of 70 children in Spain found that those with obesity slept less than their normal-weight peers.
Children with obesity slept an average of 8.4 hours, compared with 9.1 hours among children with normal weight.
The study included children aged 3 to 15 who attended a pediatric endocrinology clinic.
Researchers also examined screen exposure, sleep patterns, diet quality and metabolic health.
- Who
- Researchers studied 70 children in Spain, including 44 with obesity and 26 with normal weight.
- What
- The study compared screen exposure, sleep characteristics and other health measures between the groups.
- When
- The study date is Not stated. News-Medical published its article on 2026-11-03.
- Where
- A tertiary pediatric endocrinology clinic in Spain.
- Why
- To examine associations between sleep, screen exposure and excess weight in children.
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- Study participants
- 70 children
- Age range
- 3–15 years
- Children with obesity
- 44
- Sleep duration, obesity group
- 8.4 hours
- Sleep duration, normal-weight group
- 9.1 hours