London: Sleeping less during childhood could make babies obese later says a study that suggests that adequate sleeps are essential for good health.

Shorter sleep duration disturbs normal metabolism, which not only contributes to obesity, but also may cause insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a researcher, reported Newswise wire.

Writing in the Archives of journal Disease in Childhood Shahrad Taheri of the University of Bristol blames the increasing availability of computers, mobile phones, TVs and other gadgets on the diminishing nightly quota of sleep and suggests they should be banned from children's bedrooms.

Even two to three nights of shortened sleep can have profound effects, the laboratory data suggest, Taheri said citing one research.

Insufficient sleep at the age of 30 months was associated with obesity at the age of seven, Taheri said suggesting that this could programme the part of the brain regulating appetite and energy expenditure.

But it is also a problem for teenagers in whom the need for sleep increases during this critical developmental period, he says.

Citing another piece of research he says that levels of leptin, a hormone produced by fat tissue when energy stores are low, were more than 15 per cent lower in those sleeping five hours compared with those clocking up eight. Similarly, ghrelin, a hormone released by the stomach to signal hunger was almost 15 per cent higher in those with a five-hour sleep quota. Sleep loss also disturbs other hormones.