Researchers at the University of Birmingham have found that children who go to bed later and sleep less are more likely to be more overweight.

伯明翰大学的研究人员发现，晚睡和睡眠较少的儿童更有可能超重。

Birmingham's research into the sleeping habits of 2,795 youngsters, aged 9 to 12, from the city of Guangzhou showed a link between sleep duration and the amount of body fat.

伯明翰大学对广州市2795名9-12岁青少年的睡眠习惯进行的研究显示，睡眠时长与体脂量之间存在关联。

Research also indicated that the Chinese children were sleeping less than youngsters in the US and Europe - differences which may be a result of a focus on studying and academic achievement in China.

该研究还表明，中国儿童较美国和欧洲的青少年睡眠更少，这或许是由中国注重学习和成绩所造成的。

In the study funded by Guangzhou Medical Foundation, Birmingham scientists worked with Chinese counterparts at Sun Yat-Sen University and Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

这项由广州医学基金会资助的研究，是由伯明翰大学的科学家，与中山大学、广州疾病控制与预防中心的中国同行一道合作完成的。

Their findings show that children sleeping longer have lower Body Mass Index (BMI) scores than those sleeping less. For every hour later that a child goes to bed, their BMI score increases by a small amount.

他们的研究结果表明，睡眠时间较长的孩子的身体质量指数（BMI），要比那些睡眠较少的孩子的低一些。因为一个孩子每晚上床睡觉一小时，他们的身体质量指数就会稍微有所增长。

"There are complex factors contributing to childhood obesity¹, but increasing observational research reports that shorter sleep duration may be an additional risk factor associated with higher body mass index among children," said Professor Chen Yajun, from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-Sen University.

中山大学公共卫生学院教授陈亚军表示：“造成儿童肥胖的因素很复杂，但越来越多的观察研究称，睡眠时间较短或许是造成儿童体重指数偏高的另一个风险因素。”