Excessive Light Exposure in Children May Lead to Obesity
Posted on: 27/Oct/2015 6:03:43 PM
Alert parents, according to a recent study report, it is said that young children who get exposed to more light earlier in the day are likely to weigh more. The study also analyzed about increased exposure to light including the light emitted by gadgets like mobile phones, night lights, tablets, television, etc and concluded stating that these also increase risk of obesity in children.
The research involved studying about 48 children of age between 3 and 5 from six Brisbane childcare centres and they were monitored for a 2 week period. Their sleep pattern, activity and light exposure were studied along with their height and weight for calculating their Body Mass Index (BMI).
Cassandra Pattinson, a PhD student at Queensland University of Technology in Australia states that children who were exposed to moderate light in the early hours of the day were prone to have increased BMI level and those who were exposed to biggest dose of light during the noon time were comparatively slimmer.
Astonishingly, there was no relation between the level of physical activity and body mass index of the child, but there were influences by the sleeping time and light exposure. She added that this is the very first time that light is shown to contribute to weight gain in children. She also added that this study is a significant breakthrough at a period when about 42 million children across the globe are reported to be overweight or obese.
The light that comes from tablets, mobile phones, night lights, TV, etc increase the risk of obesity in children. These on the whole increase the total level of light exposure in children compared to any other earlier generation of kids.
The total level of exposure to light including the timing and its intensity has biological effects in mammals
