A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics in March of 2014 on obese adolescents showed that inadequate sleep led to the premature development of a number of chronic diseases that includes type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The University of Michigan and Baylor Universities teamed up to study 37 obese kids between the ages of 11-17 and monitored their sleep and exercise patterns using a physical activity monitor for 7 days.
They determined that most kids slept on 7 hours a night, when they really needed 8.5. This low level of sleep was found to be an independent risk factor for the development of the abovementioned chronic diseases.
