New research has found that children and teens that spend less time in REM sleep may be more likely to be overweight.

The study, published in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, included 335 children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 17 years. Polysomnographs monitored the sleep of participants for three consecutive nights. Total sleep time, time spent in REM, and other variables were all monitored. Each participant’s weight and height were measured to calculate BMI.

Those who were overweight slept about 22minutes less per night and had lower sleep efficiency than children at a normal weight. In total, 49 of the adolescents were at risk for becoming overweight, and 45 were overweight. One hour less of REM sleep was associated with threefold increased odds of being overweight.  One hour less of total sleep was associated with twofold increased odds of being overweight.

“Given the fact that the prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents continues to increase and chronic sleep insufficiency becomes more prevalent in modern society, family- and school-based sleep interventions that aim to enhance sleep hygiene and increase sleep duration may have important public health implications for the prevention and intervention of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children,” write the authors of the study.