According to a latest study, if toddlers and playschool kids do not sleep adequately at night, they can become overweight at a later period in their lives.

The study also revealed that sleeping during the daytime cannot cover for the lost nighttime sleep in order to avoid obesity.

For the study, as many as, 1,930 children from the United States were taken. They were divided in two groups. One group had children from one month to 59 months and the other group had kids from 5 years to 13 years.

One group was allowed to sleep for 10 hours per night and the older children from the other group were told to sleep for around 9.5 hours. However, some children from both the groups couldn't sleep for more than five hours per night.

The study continued for five years and it was noticed that 33% from the first group and 36% from the second group became overweight or obese.

According to Janice F. Bell of the University of Washington and Frederick J. Zimmerman of the University of California, the study mentions the presence of a `critical window' before five years of age, where nighttime sleep is a vital factor for ensuing obesity.

The authors said, "Sleep duration is a modifiable risk factor with potentially important implications for obesity prevention and treatment".