Believe it or having a lie in on a Saturday and Sunday morning could keep weight problems at bay.

In a recent study it was found that teenagers that lie in late at the weekend are less likely to suffer from weight problems.

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong wanted to know if catching up on sleep at the weekends helped kids to overcome weight problems. They quizzed 5000 parents on their kids eating, weight, lifestyle and sleeping habits. They found that the average hours slept was over 9 hours but a portion of children got less than 8 hours. After factoring in the hours slept at weekends, they found that children who didn’t catch up on their sleep were more likely to have larger waistlines.

The researchers concluded that the extra hours in bed at the weekend could be important to ‘reset’ a child’s sleeping patterns.

There are probably some out there that will argue with this reports findings in that the less time you spend awake the less chance you have of “raiding the fridge”. But there is some scientific findings between sleep and your metabolic rate. The less hours you sleep the lower your metabolism and you’re prone to eating more because you’re awake for longer hours.

So go easy on your teenager this weekend they might have the right idea. But for those of you out there who aren’t so lucky to have children who lie on (like mine) you can partially blame them for your weight problems 

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Not sure what to buy the kids this Christmas?

If you haven’t already jumped on the “Nintendo Wii” bandwagon already maybe its time you did.

You’ve probably seen the advertisments on TV or read about it before on other fitness sites but now that the word is official, the Nintendo Wii is good for your health according to the British Department of Health.

Nintendo Wii Fit Plus, which goes on sale this Friday in the UK, has won permission to use the NHS’s Change4Life logo in its advertising on television and in shops. (Change4Life is a campaign being run by the NHS to promote better eating and and exercise by families.)

While it may seem like a victory for the gaming industry it has critics that claim that the only reason it has the backing is because it helping to add funds to the Change4Life campaign.A

spokesman for the Department for Health said it was not endorsing a video game, but rather an exercise.

“Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving,” he said.

While it may help sales of the Nintendo Wii in the UK, the machine has already sold six million units, which works out as one machine in every fourth household in the country.

Although the majority of parents usually give out about the length of time their kids spend playing computer games the Ninetendo Wii with Wii Fit Plus may help to change all that.