Babies' sleep tied to childhood obesity

More sleep crap claimed to affect younger and younger kids.

Baby abuse by sleep deprivation. Soon it will be fetus abuse by sleep deprivation.

"When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. And when babies sleep less, they may gain too much weight. A new Harvard study finds that babies and toddlers who sleep fewer than 12 hours daily are at greater risk for being overweight in preschool, startling evidence that the link between sleep and obesity may affect even very young children...

Starting when the babies were 6 months old, mothers were asked how long their children napped during the day and how long they slept at night. Moms were asked again when the children were 1 and 2 years old. They were asked about TV time when the children reached age 2.

The researchers combined the sleep answers to find an average pattern for each child during the first two years of life. They found 586 of the children slept an average of 12 or more hours a day and 329 of the children slept less than that.

Among the long sleepers, 7 percent were obese at age 3.

The short sleepers fared worse. Twelve percent of them became obese 3-year-olds. Adding TV to the picture, 17 percent of those who slept less than 12 hours a day and watched two or more hours of television a day were obese by the time they were 3."

Add the TV, for which allegedly the researchers corrected.

"TV viewing is thought to increase the risk of obesity both because it takes time away from calorie-burning play and because of food ads for snacks and fast food."

Clearly, 0-2 year olds are significantly affected; independent thinkers, actors and consumers that they are.

Still, what did the babies do while awake?

How about get fed by their nutritionally child abusing parents?

Then there is this nugget.

"But she cautioned that genetics may play a role in sleep and a person's genetic makeup may limit how much sleep duration can be improved."

So maybe you cannot do anything.

Shut up, already.