Is sleep one of your most important family values? A new University of Illinois study suggests that it should be, reporting that more parental sleep is related to more child sleep, which is related to decreased child obesity.

“Parents should make being well rested a family value and a priority. Sleep routines in a family affect all the members of the household, not just children; we know that parents wont get a good nights sleep unless and until their preschool children are sleeping,” said Barbara H. Fiese, director of the U of Is Family Resiliency Center and Pampered Chef Endowed Chair.

And the effects of sleeplessness go beyond just being tired the next day. Studies show that moms, dads, and their children are likely to gain weight as they lose sleep, she said.

Source: Science Daily

Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140609153345.htm