Children who sleep longer hours and who have to be pulled out of their bed every weekend may be slimmer ad children and as adults a recent study has shown.

Scientists have found that sleep for a few extra hours every Saturday and Sunday morning may keep children slim. This falls in line with the idea that those people who struggle to sleep more than a few hours each evening upset their metabolism - the body'es ability to burn calories - and as a conseqence increase their weight.

The study included parents of 5,000 school children and included questions on diet, lifestyle, sleeping patterns and weight. The researchers behind the study found that most children averaged 9 hours sleep on a school night but less than 8 hours a night during the holidays and at weekends. Perhaps surprisingly though, those children who did lie in on days off where slimmer than those children who didn't catch up on extra sleep.

The research team at the Chinese University of Hong Kong suggest that sleeping more on days off regulates the calorie intake of children by stopping the urge to snack on unhealthy foods or foods that add to a normal recommended daily calorie allowance.