Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can have a serious impact on your health. Recently, two new studies have shown that sleep deprivation increases the risk of type 2 diabetes as well as diabetes progression. One of the British studies, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that 9- and 10-year-old children who got less sleep had elevated levels of risk markers for type 2 diabetes, including body mass index, body fat index, insulin resistance index, and fasting blood glucose levels. The study, which looked at 4,525 children aged 9 and 10, showed that sleep duration was negatively correlated with the levels of the aforementioned type 2 diabetes risk markers. For every hour of sleep duration, body mass index decreased by 0.19 kg/m2, insulin resistance index decreased by 2.9%, and fasting blood glucose level decreased by 0.24%. After correcting for obesity indicators such as body mass index and body fat content, sleep duration was still associated with insulin and blood glucose levels. These children surveyed slept between 8 and 12 hours, with an average of 10.5 hours.The 2016 American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that children ages 6-12 should sleep 9-12 hours per day, adolescents ages 13-18 should sleep 8-10 hours per night, and adults should sleep no less than 7 hours per night. The researchers noted that if the findings of this study are confirmed, it suggests that getting enough sleep may be a simple and feasible measure for early prevention of type 2 diabetes. Another Korean study found that among pre-diabetic people, those who slept less than 5 hours a night had about a 70 percent increased risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes within 2 years compared with those who slept a full 7 hours a night; those who slept 6 hours a night had a 44 percent increased risk of diabetes. The study suggests that too much sleep may not be good either, with a 23 percent increased risk of developing diabetes in people who slept at least eight hours a night. The study included nearly 18,000 subjects with prediabetes (HbA1c levels in the range of 5.7 to 6.4 percent), with a median follow-up of 22 months. Subjects reported an average of 6.2 hours of sleep per night. The researchers noted that adequate sleep should be part of a healthy lifestyle, especially in people with prediabetes.