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The relationship between sleep duration and obesity in Turkish children and adolescents

A Ozturk1, Mm Mazicioglu, S Poyrazoglu

  • 1Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. ahmets67@hotmail.com

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|February 3, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Shorter sleep duration is linked to higher obesity risk in Turkish children and adolescents. Ensuring at least 10 hours of sleep may help prevent childhood obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Public Health Nutrition
  • Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern.
  • Sleep duration is increasingly recognized as a potential contributing factor to obesity.
  • Limited research exists on the sleep-obesity relationship in Turkish pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between sleep duration and obesity indicators in Turkish children and adolescents.
  • To identify specific sleep duration thresholds associated with increased obesity risk.
  • To inform public health strategies for childhood obesity prevention.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study involving 5358 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in Turkey.
  • Objective measurements included height, weight, waist circumference (WC), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and triceps skinfold thickness.
  • Parent-reported sleep duration was collected, and body mass index (BMI) and arm fat area were calculated.

Main Results:

  • Increased sleep duration was associated with decreased BMI, particularly in girls sleeping <=8 hours.
  • Boys sleeping <=8 hours exhibited significantly higher WC, MUAC, and BMI compared to those sleeping >=10 hours.
  • Boys sleeping <=10 hours had a significantly elevated risk of overweight/obesity, with risks 1.86x, 1.74x, and 2.06x higher for sleep durations of 9-10h, 8-9h, and <=8h, respectively, compared to >=10 hours.

Conclusions:

  • Sleep duration is a significant factor associated with obesity in Turkish children and adolescents.
  • Providing children and adolescents with >=10 hours of sleep is recommended as a preventive measure against obesity.
  • Further research should explore causal mechanisms and intervention effectiveness.
Abstract

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