I have a couple of parenting obsessions, the most enduring has been making sure my kids get enough sleep. If the kids don't get enough sleep they transform themselves from charming, polite little people into hyperactive, demonic lunatics. I often sit in my son's kindergarten class and wonder if a few specific kids are getting enough sleep and perhaps that's why he's currently attempting to launch himself off a table. Ahem.

It turns out lack of sleep, especially for kids with sleep apnea, may also be linked to obesity, diabetes and general health. A new study at Yale is looking at the link between sleep, obesity and diabetes. This article shares the story of twelve-year-old Emily Spaulding who suffered through 7 rounds of strep throat and wasn't getting restful sleep. As a survivor of two recent runs of strep throat, God bless your little heart Emily.

She was enrolled in the Yale study and monitored in their sleep lab. They found Emily had sleep apnea, a condition where a person stops breathing for a few seconds while sleeping, and also diagnosed as pre-diabetic. The article doesn't make it clear how they cured her sleep apnea but it is usually treated using a C-Pap machine or through removing enlarged adnoids and/or tonsils, read more here.

Emily is now healthy and thriving and the study at Yale continues.