Extra sleep may help kids lose weight and sharpen memory

NCT ID NCT06341179

Disease control Sponsor: University of Copenhagen Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study tests whether helping children ages 6-12 who are above average weight and sleep 9 hours or less per night to get about 45 more minutes of sleep can improve their body weight and learning. The sleep extension group will be coached to go to bed 60-90 minutes earlier over 3 months. Researchers will measure changes in BMI, body fat, and memory skills, and follow up after 6 months.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: sleep extension (behavioral intervention to put children to bed 60-90 minutes earlier)
What this could lead to: If it works, this could point toward a simple, drug-free way to help children with higher body weight improve their weight and learning ability.
What could go wrong: This is a small, early-stage trial with only 142 children, and the sleep change may be hard for families to stick with. Results may not apply to all children.

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 142 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Aug 2024

Expected to finish

Dec 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

6 to 12 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age: 6-12 years old (inclusive range). * Weight status: having a BMI above average, defined as an age- and sex-specific BMI Z-score above zero using reference standards from the WHO. * Sleep duration: sleeping ≤9 h/night on the basis of sleep diaries filled in by the children's parents, based on recommendations by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Health Foundation. Exclusion Criteria: * Any genetic, neurological, endocrinological or psychiatric condition that affects growth, metabolism, eating behaviors, cognitive function, or body weight (for example: dwarfism, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, head trauma, β-thalassemia, hypothyroid-ism, hyperthyroidism, type I diabetes). * Any sleep-related disorder (for example: obstructive sleep apnea, parasomnias, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome). * Regular use of prescribed or over-the-counter medications that influence study outcomes. * Irregular school schedule. * If a child's parents live separately, the child is allowed to sleep at both households. How-ever, if one of the parents does not wish to carry out the sleep intervention and follow given instructions, then the child should only sleep at their household Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday night. * In the circumstance where the child does not speak or understand Danish, the child's parents do not have to speak or understand Danish, as long as both parties can speak and understand English. * Participation in other research studies. * Metal implants and claustrophobia (only for substudy-II).

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Behavior Child Behavior insomnia Obesity Overweight Pediatric Obesity

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Child behavior Child development Child obesity Sleep duration

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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A doctor treating you

A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Extra sleep may help kids lose weight and sharpen memory

What the study statuses mean