Overweight and overtired
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
There can be a lot of reasons why kids are sleepy during the day, and not getting enough sleep at night is only part of the problem. Edward Bixler of Penn State College of Medicine has been looking for underlying causes, in 508 children ages 5 to 12 years, of whom 77 had excessive daytime sleepiness.
Bixler says kids who were obese, asthmatic, anxious or depressed were more likely to have this condition. So he says:
``Treatment should include weight loss, if the child is overweight, including such things as appropriate eating habits and exercise.'' (7 seconds)
He says kids may also need treatment for depression and anxiety, and need ways to control asthma.
The study in the journal Sleep was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.