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Childhood sleep duration and quality in relation to leptin concentration in two cohort studies

Caroline E Boeke1, Amy Storfer-Isser2, Susan Redline3

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA ; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.

Sleep
|March 4, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Poor sleep in children and adolescents may impact appetite-regulating hormone leptin. Shorter sleep duration was linked to lower leptin levels in 7-year-old girls and adolescent males, suggesting age-specific sexual differences.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Childhood sleep duration is linked to obesity risk.
  • Leptin, an appetite-regulating hormone, may mediate this association.
  • Previous research shows inconsistent findings regarding sleep and leptin.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between sleep duration and quality with leptin levels in pediatric cohorts.
  • To explore potential age-specific and sex-specific differences in this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of data from two prospective US pediatric cohorts: Project Viva (n=655) and Cleveland Children's Sleep & Health Study (n=502).
  • Sleep duration assessed through maternal reports (infancy-age 7) and self-reports/polysomnography (adolescents).
  • Leptin levels measured at ages 3, 7, and 16-19; statistical analyses adjusted for sociodemographic factors and adiposity.

Main Results:

  • In Project Viva, chronic curtailed sleep at age 7 was associated with lower leptin in girls (0.08 decrease in log leptin per sleep score unit), stronger in girls with higher adiposity.
  • In adolescents, shorter sleep duration was associated with lower leptin in males (0.06 decrease in log leptin per hour).
  • No significant associations were found for sleep duration at other ages or for sleep quality indices with leptin.

Conclusions:

  • Results indicate potential age-specific sexual dimorphism in the sleep-leptin relationship.
  • These findings may help explain inconsistencies in prior research on sleep, appetite hormones, and obesity risk.
  • Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these sex- and age-specific associations.
Abstract

Keywords:
Sleepleptinobesityyouth

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