Extract:
You’re Getting Sleepy …
Most people get a little grumpy when they do not get enough sleep, but when it comes to children, the problem may be more than just some extra irritation. Lack of sleep may also affect their weight as well as their overall behavior.
A study conducted in New Zealand at the University of Auckland and published in the medical journal Sleep followed almost 600 children from infancy through seven years of age. Researchers observed the children’s sleep patterns and found that generally they slept less on the weekends than during the week and even less during the summer months. According to the findings, the children who tended to sleep the least were at greater risk for being overweight and/or experiencing behavioral problems. In fact, those who regularly slept less than nine hours a night were three times more likely than longer sleepers to be obese and to show signs of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These results were based on questionnaires completed by the children’s parents and teachers.
How does sleep affect weight? The answer to that is still not clear, but experts suspect that chronic sleep deprivation somehow alters the hormones involved in appetite control and metabolism. This is a connection that still needs to be explored to be better understood.
How much sleep is enough for a child? Experts recommend that preschoolers get 11 to 13 hours of sleep each night, whereas school-age children should get between 10 and 11 hours per night. Many children average only 8 hours. The study concluded that sleep duration is one risk factor that can be fairly easily altered to prevent future health problems for today’s young people.
What is the main idea of the passage?
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A
Researchers disagree on the optimum amount of sleep for children.
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B
Bad sleep habits may result in attention deficit disorders.
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C
Lack of sleep may have negative effects on weight and behavior.
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D
Sleep deprivation appears to alter certain hormones in children.
The main idea is that lack of sleep may have negative effects on weight and behavior, capturing the passage's central finding about dual physical and behavioral consequences.
A) Researchers disagree on the optimum amount of sleep for children.
Never mentioned, the passage presents consensus recommendations (11-13 hours for preschoolers, 10-11 for school-age) without describing professional disagreement.
B) Bad sleep habits may result in attention deficit disorders.
Too narrow, while attention disorders are discussed, they represent only one consequence alongside obesity. The passage emphasizes dual physical/behavioral impacts.
C) Lack of sleep may have negative effects on weight and behavior.
Directly supported by the study's core finding: short sleep duration correlated with increased risk for both obesity (weight) and ADD/ADHD (behavior), establishing dual-domain negative consequences as the central discovery.
D) Sleep deprivation appears to alter certain hormones in children.
Describes a hypothesized mechanism ("experts suspect... alters hormones") rather than the established finding. The hormonal theory remains unconfirmed ("still needs to be explored"), making it supporting detail rather than main idea.
Conclusion
Main ideas must encompass a passage's comprehensive focus, not isolated mechanisms or narrow consequences. Option C successfully integrates the dual physical (obesity) and behavioral (attention disorders) impacts that constitute the study's primary documented findings.