Sleep and weight gain linked in infancy

Study finds better sleep can lower infant’s chance of being overweight

Newborn babies who get better sleep and wake up fewer times throughout the night have a lower chance of being overweight in infancy, a new study out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests.

“We do know that infant weight gain is a risk factor for weight gain in later life, so it was important for us to understand whether sleep in infancy may also be a risk factor for weight gain in infancy, and thus weight gain across the lifespan,” study co-author Dr. Susan Redline, senior physician in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told the Herald.

Redline and her colleagues observed 298 newborns born at Massachusetts General Hospital between 2016 and 2018. They monitored their sleep patterns using devices that measure activity and rest over multiple days, and parents kept sleep diaries as well.

Researchers measured infant height, weight and body mass index and infants were classified as overweight if they fell into or above the 95th percentile.

“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 said.

Just one more hour of sleep for the newborns correlated with a 26% decrease in their risk of being overweight, according to the study published Friday in the journal, Sleep.

Redline said it’s possible that better sleep relates to a healthier weight in newborns because more sleep promotes routine feeding practices that prevent overeating. Many parents will immediately try to feed their baby if they wake up crying, but they might not be hungry.

Being overweight in infancy can predispose kids to being overweight or obese later in life, which could increase their risk of chronic disease such as diabetes or heart disease, according to Redline, further highlighting the need for good newborn sleep habits.

She offered newborn sleep tips to parents such as setting a consistent sleep schedule, making sure the baby’s room is dark, quiet and a comfortable temperature, and allowing the baby to self soothe by not responding to their every awakening.

Redline said it’s also beneficial for the whole family to focus on healthy sleep habits. If all family members are sleeping well, those habits can mutually reinforce one another. She added that insufficient sleep can cause weight gain in adults and older kids.

Redline and her colleagues plan to finish up their data collection and will have more information on sleep beyond the newborn stage and up to two years of age.

From that data, they’ll see how consistent growth trajectories are, and if some children may go off their growth chart and then even back out.

GettY imAgeS fiLe MORE SLEEP, LESS WEIGHT: A newborn baby’s first days of life in the delivery room. A recent study from Brigham and Women’s hospital linked newborn sleep to weight gain, finding that infants with better sleep cycles have a lower chance of becoming overweight.