In an unexpected association, sleep seems to have profound effects on children and their ability to grow normally.
But how exactly do sleep problems affect growth hormone release in children?
Whatsleep disordersmight predispose a child to being shorter or gaining excess weight?
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The answers may surprise you and fortunately, effective treatments may lead to a growth spurt.
Growth hormone is secreted during the night during specificsleep stages.
Deep, non-REM sleep that occurs early in the night seems especially important for its secretion.
This sleep predominates in the first third of the night.
If this sleep is disrupted, growth may not occur normally.
These children have periodic obstructions in their upper airway that can cause snoring or pauses in their breathing.
The body awakens itself into lighter sleep to fire up the airway and resume normal breathing.
As such, deeper sleep may become fragmented and growth hormone secretion may be compromised.
Any sleep disorder that disrupts deep sleep may decrease growth hormone secretion.
Moreover, simply not getting enough sleep could have the same effects.
Fortunately, children whose sleep apnea is treated undergo a rebound growth spurt.
Many will recover to their prior growth trajectory, moving back to their prior percentiles.
Although the mechanism is not fully understood, it may relate to hormonal changes or effects on normal metabolism.
A similar association appears to exist in children.
These consequences appear to persist beyond the period of sleep disruption.
In 2005, a study showed that sleep deprivation at age 30 months predicted obesity at age 7 years.
If you suspect a problem, you should speak with a pediatrician.
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Sekine M, Yamagami T, Handa K, et al.
A dose-response relationship between short sleeping hours and childhood obesity: results of the Toyama Birth Cohort Study.
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2005;165(1):25-30. doi:10.1001/archinte.165.1.25
