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Updated: May 16, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
No relation between sleep duration and adiposity indicators in 9-36 months old children: the SKOT cohort
L Klingenberg1, L B Christensen, M F Hjorth
1Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. lakl@life.ku.dk
Background:
Epidemiological studies in adults and children have repeatedly reported an association between short sleep duration and the risk of obesity. Studies using both objective measurements of sleep and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in children aged three are, however, lacking.
Objective:
The study aims to examine both the longitudinal and cross-sectional associations between sleep duration and adiposity indicators in children aged 3 and younger.
Methods:
On a cohort of 311 infants born at term, we used parent-reported sleep duration at 9 months, 18 months and 3 years of age, and accelerometer estimated nocturnal sleep duration at 3 years of age. Sleep duration at 9 and 18 months were used to predict adiposity at 3 years of age.
Results:
We found no associations between any of the adiposity indicators at 3 years of age and (i) parent-reported total sleep duration at 9 months, 18 months and 3 years, and (2) nocturnal sleep duration measured with accelerometry at 3 years of age. Multivariate adjustments were used in both approaches.
Conclusion:
Our results do not support the hypothesis that short sleep duration is associated with increased adiposity in this cohort of young Danish children.
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