Getting enough sleep at night could do more than help you feel rested and ready to face the day -- a new study shows that obese teens who get enough sleep also lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that sleeping 7-1/2 to 8-1/2 hours of sleep each night was associated with stable glucose, or blood sugar, levels, while sleeping more or less than that was associated with increased blood sugar levels, the Ottawa Sun reported.
When a person has Type 2 diabetes, his or her body is unable to produce the amount of insulin needed to break down glucose, take it out of the blood and put it into cells, according to the American Diabetes Association. When this glucose accumulates in the blood, it can lead to complications from diabetes.
In the study, researchers had 62 obese teens spend the night in a sleep lab so that they could monitor their blood sugar levels.
There is previous research that shows that adults who don't get enough sleep have a higher diabetes risk, The Telegraph reported.
The study was small, but it falls in line with what we already know about sleep -- and how important it is to get enough of it. Doctors generally recommend that teenagers get about nine hours of sleep a night, and adult should get seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Kids need even more sleep, with preschoolers requiring 11 hours of sleep a night and kids (under age 13) requiring 10 hours of sleep a night. Pregnant women may also need more sleep than other adults, according to the Mayo Clinic.
However, if teens don't get enough sleep during the week and play catch-up on the weekend, their attention suffers, according to a recent study.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, not getting enough sleep can also increase body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight), the risk of depression and substance abuse, the risk of getting into a car accident and the risk of heart problems.
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