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Sleep and body mass index in infancy and early childhood (6-36 mo): a longitudinal study

Lu Wang1, Wilma Jansen1,2, Magda M Boere-Boonekamp3

  • 1Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Pediatric Obesity
|January 20, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Shorter sleep duration is linked to higher body mass index (BMI) in young children. However, elevated BMI may influence sleep duration, not the other way around, in this age group.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Sleep Science
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Longitudinal studies on sleep and body mass index (BMI) in young children are limited.
  • The bidirectional relationship between sleep duration and child BMI requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the cross-sectional association between sleep duration/problems and child BMI z-score.
  • To determine if sleep duration predicts changes in child BMI z-score.
  • To assess if child BMI z-score predicts changes in sleep duration.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized longitudinal data from 2308 children in the BeeBOFT study.
  • Collected parent-reported sleep data (duration, awakenings, latency) and standardized BMI measurements at 6, 14, and 36 months.
  • Employed linear mixed and regression models to analyze associations.

Main Results:

  • Shorter sleep duration correlated with higher BMI z-scores at 14 and 36 months.
  • Higher BMI z-scores at 6 months predicted shorter sleep duration at 14 months.
  • No significant association was found between sleep problems and BMI z-scores.

Conclusions:

  • Cross-sectional links between shorter sleep and higher BMI are evident in early childhood.
  • Child BMI may influence sleep duration, but sleep duration does not appear to predict future BMI in this cohort.
Abstract

Keywords:
bidirectional associationchild BMIlongitudinal studysleep duration

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