Night owl sleep habits can make you put on weight

A study shows that night owl sleep habits can cause a person to put on weight.

A new study done at the UC Berkeley’s Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic, says going to bed late at night can lead to weight gain, according to an article onnews.berkeley.edu.

The study found a link between sleep and Body mass index (BMI), and the results are showing that teens and also adults that get to bed late during the week are probably going to put on more weight than those who have an earlier bedtime each night.

The researchers looked at the numbers from over 3,300 participants, youth and adult, and they discovered a gain of 2.1 pounds on the BMI for each hour of sleep lost over a five -year period.

Surprisingly, they found that the gain in BMI held true despite the participants regimen of exercise, TV or computer screen time or even the number of hours they slept overall.

BMI is calculated using the body’s height and weight and is a useful metric for measuring weight gain and obesity.  A healthy BMI is said to be between 18.5 and 24.9.  A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 is considered overweight and 30.0 or greater is classified as obese.

The data the researchers used came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.  That study has been recording the behaviors of teens from the United States since 1994.  In the new study, they compared the BMI and the bedtimes for teens at the onset of puberty, during their college-age years and as young adults.

Lauren Asarnow, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in UC Berkeley’s Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic said “These results highlight adolescent bedtimes, not just total sleep time, as a potential target for weight management during the transition to adulthood.”

She also added that young people that go to sleep earlier each night “set their weight on a healthier course as they emerge into adulthood.”

Earlier surveys and studies have revealed that teens do not get the recommended amount of sleep each night, and many teens report having difficulty staying alert and awake in school.

Later in life, the natural circadian rhythm shifts toward a later sleep cycle.  The circadian rhythm is the natural body clock that regulates your metabolic and physiological functions.

Other studies have suggested a link between late night owls and mental health.  It appears that people that are going to bed later have an increased risk of developing depression and other mental health related issues.

The hope is that the findings of the study will encourage young adults to be more conscious of the effect of late-night bedtimes, despite the pressure they will feel to be a part of their social group, particularly in a college-type setting.

Even if they are aware of the benefits of earlier sleep times, it will be difficult to maintain that type schedule while being a student.

Habits are hard to break as well.  If teens are used to going to bed a 10 to 11 PM during high school years, they will have a hard time changing their cycle once they are out on their own.  Parents who see the results of the study may want to monitor their children more closely and develop an earlier bedtime ritual at an early age to make it easier later on in life.

No teen wants to gain weight, especially around their peers in a university setting, and it is hoped that these findings will encourage teens and young adults to take their sleeping habits more seroiously.

The co-authors of the study include Allison Harvey at UC-Berkeley and Elanor McGlinchey at Columbia University, along with Ms. Asarnow, who is a researcher on UC-Berkeley’s Teen Sleep Study.

The Teen Sleep Study seeks to assist teens to reset the circadian rhythms of young people that are having trouble sleeping and waking up on time.

The results of the study were published in the October edition of the journal Sleep.

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Sleep, academics, and behavior all improved by limited screen time

A study shows that limiting screen time improves sleep quality, academic performance, and behavior in children. JR

Parents may not always see it, but efforts to limit their children's screen time can make a difference. A new study, published inJAMA Pediatrics, found children get more sleep, do better in school, behave better and see other health benefits when parents limit content and the amount of time their children spend on the computer or in front of the TV.

Douglas Gentile, lead author and an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State, says the effect is not immediate and that makes it difficult for parents to recognize. As a result, parents may think it is not worth the effort to monitor and limit their children's media use. But Gentile says they have more power than they realize.

"When parents are involved it has a powerful protective effect across a wide range of different areas that they probably never would have expected to see," Gentile said. "However, parents aren't likely to notice that putting limits on the children's media is having these effects seven months later."

Considering that children average more than 40 hours of screen time a week, not counting time spent on a computer at school, even small changes can make a difference, researchers said. They are not suggesting parents completely eliminate screen time, but find a healthy balance.

The study found there is a ripple effect associated with the benefits of limiting both screen time and media content. Gentile is not surprised to see a direct impact on sleep, academics and behavior. However, limited screen time also indirectly affects body mass index. The study found that children got more sleep if parents limited screen time, which also resulted in lower risk of obesity. Parents limiting exposure to violent media resulted in increased prosocial behavior and lowered aggressive behavior seven months later.

Researchers analyzed the media habits of more than 1,300 school children who were recruited to participate in an obesity prevention program. Students and parents were surveyed about everything from screen time limits, to violent media exposure, to bedtimes and behavior. Teachers reported grades and commented on student behavior and school nurses measured each student's height and weight.

Data were collected at the start of the program and seven months later at the end of the program. By looking at these factors collectively with a group of children over a school year, it was easier for researchers to identify patterns that are hard to recognize in individual children.

"As parents, we don't even see our children get taller and that's a really noticeable effect. With media, what we're often looking for is the absence of a problem, such as a child not gaining weight, making it even more difficult to notice," Gentile said.

"Even with changes that we do notice, we really don't recognize in the moment how all these things are related to each other across time," he added. "Yes, as screen time goes up, school performance goes down, but that doesn't happen overnight. If I watch a lot of TV today, I don't get an F in my class tomorrow."

Doctors can make a difference, too

The American Association of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours of screen time a day for children two years and older. Reality far exceeds those recommendations, which might explain why doctors feel it is futile to talk with parents about guidelines for media use, Gentile said. The study provides further evidence of why pediatricians need to have that conversation.

"Hopefully, this study will give pediatricians a better sense of efficacy that it's worth taking the time to talk to parents," Gentile said. "Even if doctors only influence 10 percent of the parents, that's still millions of children having much better health outcomes as a result."

Researchers recommend doctors talk with parents about setting limits and actively monitoring media use. This can include talking with children about media content, explaining the purpose of various media and providing overall guidance.

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Autism risk may be influenced by parental obesity

A study looked into how autism risk in a child may be influenced by parental obesity and found that paternal obesity is a greater risk factor than maternal obesity.

Several studies have looked at possible links between maternal obesity during pregnancy and the risk of developmental disorders in the child. However, paternal obesity could be a greater risk factor than maternal obesity, according to a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

As the first researcher to study the role of paternal obesity in autism, Dr. Pål Surén emphasises that this is still a theory and requires much more research before scientists can discuss possible causal relationships.

"We have a long way to go. We must study genetic factors in the relationship between obesity and autism, as well as environmental factors associated with switching the genes on or off -- so-called epigenetic factors," he explains.

Surén and his fellow researchers used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The researchers studied questionnaire data from over 90,000 Norwegian children at three, five and seven years of age. The mothers had answered detailed questions about their own mental and physical health, and about their children. The fathers completed a questionnaire about their mental and physical health while their partner was pregnant. The researchers also collected data from the Norwegian Patient Registry and from studies of children who were referred for evaluation and treatment of possible autism or Asperger's syndrome. By the end of the follow-up period, the children were aged 4 to 13 years.

Surprising findings

419 children, approximately 0.45 per cent of the sample, had an autism spectrum diagnosis (ASD). This is slightly lower than in the general population (0.8 per cent) because it is difficult to diagnose autism among the youngest children.

In the sample, 22 per cent of the mothers and 43 per cent of the fathers were overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 30. Approximately 10 per cent of mothers and fathers were obese, with a BMI of 30 or more.

The researchers found that maternal obesity had little association with the development of autism in the child. However, they found a doubled risk for development of autism and Asperger's syndrome in the child if the father was obese, compared with a normal weight father.

"We were very surprised by these findings because we expected that maternal obesity would be the main risk factor for the development of ASD. It means that we have had too much focus on the mother and too little on the father. This probably reflects the fact that we have given greater focus to conditions in pregnancy, such as the growth environment for the fetus in the womb than both environmental and genetic factors before conception," says Surén.

The researchers adjusted for variables that may also be associated with the development of autism in the child. In addition to adjusting for maternal obesity, they considered education, age, smoking, mental disorders, hormone therapy before pregnancy, use of folic acid, maternal diabetes , pre-eclampsia and the baby's weight at birth.

Risk genes

Surén believes that the finding about paternal obesity is sound. The researchers found that the risk remained unchanged when adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.

"Our findings therefore suggest that there may be a genetic link between obesity in the father and the development of ASD in the child," says Surén.

He points out that genetic mutation may play a role in the development of both extreme obesity and autism. Researchers have shown, for example, that if a section of chromosome 16 is missing this can lead to morbid obesity or developmental disorders in children. Mutations may be a basis for the development of a number of complex syndromes and diseases.

Another explanation may lie in epigenetics. Epigenetic changes do not mean that the gene is altered, but that the gene is activated or inactivated as a result of environmental conditions. Switching a gene on or off at the wrong time and place can lead to adverse consequences for the individual and the epigenetic changes can be passed on to the next generation.

"We still know very little about how epigenetic changes in germ cells are affected by obesity or other environmental factors but animal experiments have shown that obese males have offspring with altered gene expression in early growth regulation," says Surén.

Further research

Researchers are still in the early stages of studying possible links between obesity in the father and the development of ASD in the child. The first study was recently published in the Pediatrics journal. The research paper is included in Surén's doctoral thesis and it was written with a large group of researchers from university and hospital environments in Norway, England and the USA.

"We have begun to sequence all genes to find mutations and we must do more epigenetic analysis. If there is a correlation between obesity and ASD, this is a risk factor where the incidence is increasing in the population. Further research is therefore of great importance to public health," says Surén.

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New screening tool for sleep apnea in children

A new screening tool that looks at neck circumference in children can help screen for obstructive sleep apnea and sleep problems in children. 

Remember, the intent of "screening tools" is to find people at risk. They are not intended to be diagnostic. - JR

Clinical investigators at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) have developed a new screening tool to help diagnose obstructive sleep apnea in children. Their findings are published in Pediatric Pulmonology.

Evidence suggests that adults with a large neck circumference are more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), especially males. As neck circumference varies by age and sex, there have been no reference ranges to diagnose pediatric OSA up until now. The new evidence-based diagnostic tool includes reference ranges—a new pediatric growth curve—to measure and track neck circumference for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 17.

"The gold standard test (for OSA) is still a sleep study and we would not replace that, but because the wait is so long, we needed something quick and reliable to help bump kids up the priority list or to better understand who is at the highest risk for OSA," said Dr. Sherri Katz, principal investigator at the CHEO Research Institute and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. "If left untreated, OSA sets kids up for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other comorbid conditions down the line."

The research team discovered for children, a neck circumference measuring greater than the 95th percentile for age and sex is associated with increased risk of OSA. When examined by sex, the association was significant in males aged 12 or older, but not in females. The research team also looked at Body Mass Index (BMI), but did not find that it stands alone as a significant predictor of OSA in this group.

"In older males, as in adults, neck size is a predictor of OSA. This suggests that in adults, it is not just overall obesity, but body fat distribution centrally—in the trunk and neck—that predicts the risk of OSA," said Katz.

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ADHD medication use leads to BMI rebound

A study of ADHD stimulant medication shows that its use is associated with BMI rebound later in adolescence.

A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that children treated with stimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experienced slower body mass index (BMI) growth than their undiagnosed or untreated peers, followed by a rapid rebound of BMI that exceeded that of children with no history of ADHD or stimulant use and that could continue to obesity.

The study, thought to be the most comprehensive analysis of ADHD and stimulant use in children to date, found that the earlier the medication began, and the longer the medication was taken, the slower the BMI growth in earlier childhood but the more rapid the BMI rebound in late adolescence, typically after discontinuation of medication. Researchers concluded that stimulant use, and not a diagnosis of ADHD, was associated with higher BMI and obesity. The study was published in Pediatrics.

"Our findings should motivate greater attention to the possibility that longer-term stimulant use plays a role in the development of obesity in children," said Brian S. Schwartz, MD, MS, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Medicine at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "Given the dramatic rise in ADHD diagnosis and stimulant treatment for it in recent decades, this is an interesting avenue of research regarding the childhood obesity epidemic, because the rises in each of these roughly parallel one another."

Previous research has found substantial evidence that stimulant use to treat ADHD is associated with growth deficits, and some evidence of growth delays. However, the reported associations of ADHD with obesity in both childhood and adulthood was paradoxical and somewhat unexplained. The results of this study suggest it is likely due to the strong influence that stimulants have on BMI growth, with delays in early childhood and a strong rebound in late adolescence. The study also found longitudinal evidence that unmedicated ADHD is associated with higher BMIs, but these effects were small.

ADHD is one of the most common pediatric disorders, with a 9% prevalence among children in the U.S., and ADHD medication is the second most prescribed treatment among children. Over the past 30 years, treatment for ADHD with stimulants has increased rapidly. From 2007 to 2010, 4.2.% of children under age 18 had been prescribed stimulants in the past 30 days, more than five times the amount prescribed to the same-aged children between 1988 and 1984.

The study analyzed the electronic health records of 163,820 children, ages 3 to 18, in the Geisinger Health System, a Pennsylvania-based integrated health services organization. The research geographic area included 37 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. There were an equal number of boys and girls. Nearly 7% -- 11,080, or 6.8% -- had an order for stimulants. (13,789, or 8.4%, received a diagnosis of ADHD. A total of 15,473 were prescribed stimulants, some for other reasons.) There were 201,854 orders for the ADHD medications used in the analysis. The median age at first stimulant use was 8.5 years. Median use was 183 days, with 50% of children taking stimulants for less than 6 months and 50% of children for more than 6 months.

The researchers compared the BMI trajectories of those who had never had a diagnosis or prescription (the "controls") with three groups: 1.) those with a diagnosis but no stimulant prescription; 2.) those with orders for stimulants without an ADHD diagnosis and 3.) those with both an ADHD diagnosis and stimulant orders.

Those in group 3 had slower rates of BMI growth in early childhood, with more rapid rates during adolescence that eventually exceeded those of the controls. Those with a diagnosis of ADHD but no stimulant orders had more rapid BMI growth after age 10 versus the controls, but the effects were small.

"Stimulant use was strongly implicated," said Dr. Schwartz. "The earlier stimulants were started and the longer they were used, the stronger was their influence on the degree of both the delayed BMI growth in early childhood and the rebound BMI growth in late adolescence. This is an important unintended consequence of stimulant use in childhood."

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Obesity increases risk of migraine

This article discusses why obese people may be at a higher risk of developing migraine headaches.

Obese people may be at higher risk for episodic migraine headaches, a new study suggests.

Migraines involve intense pulsing or throbbing pain in one area of the head, according to the American Academy of Neurology. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines affect more than 10% of the population.

Episodic migraines -- the more common type of migraine -- occur 14 days or fewer per month, while chronic migraines occur at least 15 days per month. Low-frequency episodic migraines occur the least often.

In the new study of nearly 3 700 adults, those with a high body-mass index -- a measure of body fat determined using height and weight -- had much higher odds of having episodic migraines than did those with a lower body-mass index (BMI). This was particularly true among women, whites and people under 50. As the BMI moved from normal weight to overweight to obese, so did the rate of headaches.

The cross-sectional study doesn't prove that obesity causes episodic migraines. The study does, however, demonstrate that people who are obese have an increased risk of having more of them, even low-frequency ones, said lead author Dr B Lee Peterlin, an associate professor of neurology and the director of headache research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore.

The study is to be presented this week at the International Headache Congress, in Boston. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Dr Gretchen Tietjen, a professor of neurology and director of the headache treatment and research programme at the University of Toledo, in Ohio, said she found the study interesting because previous studies had looked for connections between obesity and chronic migraines.

"That the researchers were able to show an association between obesity and episodic migraine lends more credence to some of the earlier studies that found similar things," she said.

She pointed out, however, that it still isn't known which came first -- the obesity or the migraine. There are many possible scenarios, Tietjen said. "Maybe the person had the migraines first and then started taking medications like amitriptyline or valproic acid," she said. "Those medications are associated with weight gain."

Inflammatory proteins

The possible connection between obesity and migraines is under debate. One theory involves inflammatory substances from fat tissue (adipose) that are released into the system, Tietjen said.

Premenopausal women have more total adipose tissue in general than men, and women have more superficial and less deep adipose tissue, Peterlin said. But after menopause, adipose tissue is more similar between the two sexes.

Adipose tissue secretes different inflammatory proteins based on how much tissue there is and where it is located. Since younger women and obese people have more adipose tissue, this could, at least in part, explain why they get more headaches.

On the other hand, Peterlin also suggested that a possible connection may be related to the brain. "Previous imaging data in migraine patients have shown activation of the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that controls the drive to feed," she said. Alternatively, it could be that people who have migraines may be more inclined to behaviours associated with weight gain, such as being less active.

Would losing weight mean that migraines will decrease in frequency? Although weight loss is generally encouraged for people who are obese, that won't necessarily result in migraine relief, both Peterlin and Tietjen cautioned.

At least two small studies have evaluated migraines on people who were obese and underwent bariatric surgery to lose weight, Peterlin said. Although these studies did find that some patients experienced fewer headaches, the studies were small and more research needs to be done to see if this is consistent.

It's possible that the lifestyle changes needed for weight loss cut the migraine frequency, rather than the weight loss itself, the experts said. People who eliminate processed foods, high-calorie foods and alcohol -- all of which can be migraine triggers -- could end up experiencing fewer headaches.

Unfortunately, the opposite could also be true if dieters introduce new foods that are migraine triggers. Some people may develop migraines when they consume certain sugar substitutes, for example. There also is limited data suggesting that people with severe obesity who exercise may have fewer migraines, Peterlin said.

"Our data and previous research serve as a call to researchers in the headache field to identify safe and appropriate treatment options for obese [people with] episodic migraines of all classifications and not just those who qualify for [weight-loss] surgery," she said.

Peterlin also suggested that physicians, in addition to providing lifestyle education to their obese patients with episodic migraines, take into account the weight-gain or weight-loss effect that migraine medications may have on their patients.

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Sleep Apnea and Abdominal Fat

This article discusses the link between excess abdominal fat and sleep apnea.

Obesity has long been considered one of the most important risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults. In particular, visceral fat—a type of fat that collects in the abdomen—is increasingly regarded as a particularly significant risk factor for sleep apnea. Visceral fat in the abdomen is located within the abdominal cavity, around the body’s organs. Visceral fat itself is considered an important risk factor for a number of serious medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Although both men and women are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, men are diagnosed with the disorder in greater numbers, and some studies have indicated that men with OSA are at greater risk of mortality than women.

A new study has found evidence of a strong link between visceral fat and obstructive sleep apnea—a link that is particular to men with the sleep disorder.Researchers in Japan examined the relationship between visceral fat and obstructive sleep apnea in both men and women. They discovered a strong association between sleep apnea and visceral fat accumulation among men, but not among women. The study included 271 men and 100 women who had been treated for obstructive sleep apnea between October 2008 and December 2010. Researchers analyzed the relationships among different measurements of body mass and fat accumulation and indicators of OSA. They found significant differences between these relationships in men and in women:

• BMI and waist circumference were found to be similar in both men and women.
• Men in the study had greater accumulations of visceral fat than women.
• Men also had more severe OSA than women, and also had more severedyslipidemia—abnormal levels of lipids in the blood. High cholesterol and high triglycerides are the most common types of dyslipidemia.
• In men, visceral fat accumulation was associated with two indicators of low blood oxygen, which are themselves considered indicators of sleep apnea.
• In men, visceral fat also was associated with age and with body-mass index (BMI).
• In women, researchers found no association between obstructive sleep apnea and visceral fat accumulation.
• In women, visceral fat was only associated with body-mass index.

These findings may help to explain the elevated risks of cardiovascular disease among men with obstructive sleep apnea. We’ve known for some time that excess fat—especially in the abdominal area—is linked to greater risk for health problems, including both cardiovascular disease and obstructive sleep apnea. Other studies have also found links between visceral fat and OSA, as well as differences between the associated risks to men and women:

• Researchers at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine studied the relationship between visceral fat and OSA in non-obese men and women. In men, they found visceral fat associated with obstructive sleep apnea. In women, visceral fat was not associated with OSA. But another type of fat—subcutaneous fat, located just beneath the skin in the abdomen and throughout the body—was associated with sleep apnea in women.
• A study of obese men and women found that visceral fat was significantly greater in those patients with obstructive sleep apnea than those without, leading researchers to suggest that visceral fat is an important risk factor for OSA in both men and women who are obese.
• People with visceral fat accumulations and sleep-disordered breathing were significantly more likely to experience nighttime acute coronary syndrome, a serious form of heart disease, in this study conducted in Japan.
• There is some good news for obstructive sleep apnea patients who use CPAP therapy to treat their sleep disorder: research has indicated that visceral fat in people with OSA can be significantly reduced with regular, long-term use of this common therapy.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when muscles at the back of the throat close, blocking the upper airway and causing an interruption to normal, unobstructed breathing. These instances of interrupted breathing can occur anywhere from a handful of times in a night to hundreds of times in a single sleep period, robbing people of restful sleep and putting them at risk for an array of health problems. It’s estimated that 3-7% of adults in the United States suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, but the disorder is considered significantly under-diagnosed, particularly among women. Sleep apnea is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as certain cancers.

There is a significant body of research showing that people with obstructive sleep apnea have greater risk of mortality than those without the sleep disorder, if the disorder is left untreated. There are indications within some research that men are at greater risk for mortality than women, though it’s clear that both men and women with obstructive sleep apnea face elevated health and mortality risks compared to those without the disorder.

The stakes are high for people with obstructive sleep apnea: the disorder is profoundly disruptive to sleep and can lead to serious health problems if not identified and treated. Understanding with greater specificity the health and lifestyle conditions that may increase risk of sleep apnea can lead to better screening and treatment options. It’s also important to continue to evaluate the ways that risks for men and women may differ, and to create screening criteria and treatment protocols tailored to the needs of each. For both men and women, maintaining a healthy weight, with particular attention to abdominal fitness, is important for good sleep and good health.

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Link between ADHD in children and obesity

This article claims that children with ADHD are more likely to become obese, and this association could be due to a lack of impulse control seen in both conditions.

A new study conducted by researchers at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center found men diagnosed as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were twice as likely to be obese in a 33-year follow-up study compared to men who were not diagnosed with the condition.

The study appears in the May 20 online edition of Pediatrics.

"Few studies have focused on long-term outcomes for patients diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. In this study, we wanted to assess the health outcomes of children diagnosed with ADHD, focusing on obesity rates and Body Mass Index," said lead author Francisco Xavier Castellanos, MD, Brooke and Daniel Neidich Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone. "Our results found that even when you control for other factors often associated with increased obesity rates such as socioeconomic status, men diagnosed with ADHD were at a significantly higher risk to suffer from high BMI and obesity as adults."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ADHD is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders, often diagnosed in childhood and lasting into adulthood. People with ADHD typically have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors and tend to be overly active. ADHD has an estimated worldwide prevalence of five percent, with men more likely to be diagnosed than women.

The prospective study included 207 white men diagnosed with ADHD at an average age of 8 and a comparison group of 178 men not diagnosed with childhood ADHD, who were matched for race, age, residence and social class. The average age at follow up was 41 years old. The study was designed to compare Body Mass Index (BMI) and obesity rates in grown men with and without childhood ADHD.

Results showed that, on average, men with childhood ADHD had significantly higher BMI (30.1 vs. 27.6) and obesity rates (41.1 percent vs. 21.6 percent) than men without childhood ADHD.

"The results of the study are concerning but not surprising to those who treat patients with ADHD. Lack of impulse control and poor planning skills are symptoms often associated with the condition and can lead to poor food choices and irregular eating habits," noted Dr. Castellanos. "This study emphasizes that children diagnosed with ADHD need to be monitored for long-term risk of obesity and taught healthy eating habits as they become teenagers and adults."

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Study: Sleep Apnea Symptoms Vary by Race

This new study adds to our knowledge of the effect of race/ethnicity on sleep disorders and the PERCEPTION of sleep problems. 

We have known for some time that certain groups are more susceptible. 

Sleep apnea is another possible element of the study of the prevalence of hypertension and vascular disorders in certain ethnic groups. - JR

From the Huffington Post.....

"Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea -- the sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts -- run the gamut, from smoking and high blood pressure, to the most common, high body mass index (BMI). But a recent study by researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine reveals that even with BMI accounted for, one key risk factor remains -- race.

In the study of 512 patients observed at the Detroit Receiving Hospital Sleep Disorders Center between July 1996 and February 1999, the severity of sleep apnea was shown to be higher among African-American men under 40 years old and between 50 and 59 years old. No difference was found between African-American and white women, however.

Lead researcher, James Rowley, PhD, professor of medicine at Wayne State Medical Director of the sleep disorders center, says that the mechanism for a racial difference in sleep apnea severity is unclear, but potential mechanisms include anatomic differences that affect the way the upper airway open and close, as well as differences in the neurochemical control of breathing.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are two main types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax

Central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing

Rowley's research isn't the first to identify differences in how race affects the quality of sleep.

In two presentations at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston last year, scientists reported that the amount and quality of sleep people get each night vary across racial and ethnic lines, with one study showing that blacks and Asians don’t sleep as much as whites do, and another study showing thatforeign-born Americans are less likely to report having sleep problems than those born in the U.S.

Unlike Rowley's study, however, the authors of last year's research surmise that the majority of the differences in sleep patterns between races can be chalked up to environmental or even geographical factors — rather than genes or physical characteristics like variations in facial structure that could interfere with breathing and sleep, TIME's Alice Park noted.

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