Associations between sleep duration patterns and overweight/obesity at age 6

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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Evelyne Touchette1, Dominique Petit, Richard E Tremblay

  • 1Sleep Disorders Center, Sacre-Coeur Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Sleep
|November 19, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Persistently short sleep duration in early childhood is a significant risk factor for childhood overweight and obesity. This association remains even when accounting for other environmental influences on weight.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern.
  • Sleep duration is a modifiable behavior with potential links to metabolic health.
  • Understanding early life risk factors for obesity is crucial for prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if longitudinal sleep duration patterns in early childhood predict overweight or obesity at school entry.
  • To investigate this relationship while controlling for various obesogenic environmental factors.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective cohort study followed 1138 children from infancy to age 6 in Quebec, Canada.
  • Sleep duration was reported annually by mothers; Body Mass Index (BMI) was measured at 2.5 and 6 years.
  • Group-based semiparametric mixture models identified sleep patterns; multivariate logistic regression controlled for confounders.

Main Results:

  • Four distinct sleep duration patterns were identified: short persistent, short increasing, 10-hour persistent, and 11-hour persistent.
  • Children with persistently short sleep duration (<10 hours) had a 4.2 times higher risk of being overweight or obese at school entry.
  • This increased risk was significant (OR, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.6 to 11.1; P = 0.003) and independent of other obesogenic factors.

Conclusions:

  • Persistently short sleep duration during early childhood is a significant risk factor for childhood overweight and obesity.
  • The findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep for preventing excess weight gain in children.
  • Sleep duration patterns in early life appear to be an independent predictor of later obesity risk.
Abstract

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