For parents, it can be easy for us to somehow find our way out of a routine that we spent so much time diligently setting up.  More television time sneaks its way into your day, bedtimes get extended, and sometimes, your healthy and well balanced diet goes out the window.  While it’s okay to deviate from routines in certain circumstances, recent studies found that sticking to a routine actually has a direct relationship to childhood obesity. 

The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, found that sticking to a schedule during the preschool years has the capacity to impact health all the way to the preteen years.  Researchers believe that teaching kids early on in life how to control their emotional and physical health is key to their development. This type of control helps teach kids not to overeat when they’re stressed or not to starve themselves in emotional situations.  

The team of researchers studied 11,000 kids from the United Kingdom Millennial Cohort Study.  Subjects were born between 2001 and 2002.  The research revealed that at approximately three years old, only 41% of kids had a regular bedtime, but about 50% had a mealtime schedule.  The research revealed that at age 11, over five percent of children researched were obese, and these kids were more likely to NOT have a regular bedtime while in preschool.  Lead author, Sarah Anderson said, “…research is increasingly finding connections between obesity and poor sleep.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ suggest children 3 - 5 should get 10 to 13 hours of sleep a day.  Of course, this doesn’t need to be 10 – 13 hours consecutively as most children these ages wake up throughout the night, whether it’s to go to the bathroom or to get a glass of water.  

For the most part, once a routine is established, children will accept, and even expect, the routine to occur.  So while it can be difficult to achieve a routine, there truly are benefits to them and they are important to physical and emotional stability for your child.