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Beyond sleep duration: Sleep timing as a risk factor for childhood obesity
Hanna F Skjåkødegård1, Yngvild S Danielsen2, Bente Frisk3,4
1Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Insights
Later sleep timing in children is linked to obesity and unhealthy behaviors like increased screen time and less physical activity. This suggests sleep timing is a potential risk factor for childhood obesity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Sleep Medicine
- Obesity Research
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing concern with established links to short sleep duration and sleep problems.
- However, the association between sleep timing and obesity in children remains under-examined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between sleep duration, sleep problems, and sleep timing with obesity and obesogenic behaviors in children.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study matched 85 severely obese children with 85 normal-weight children by age and sex.
- Sleep patterns and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were objectively measured using accelerometers over seven days.
- Emotional eating, screen time, and sleep problems were self- or parent-reported.
Main Results:
- Severely obese children exhibited significantly later mid-sleep times on both school and weekend nights compared to normal-weight children.
- Obese children reported more sleep problems, but no significant differences were found in sleep duration or social jetlag.
- Later mid-sleep time correlated positively with screen time and inversely with time spent in MVPA, even after adjusting for demographic factors.
Conclusions:
- Later sleep timing in children is associated with obesogenic behaviors, including increased screen time and reduced physical activity.
- Sleep timing may represent a significant risk factor for the development of childhood obesity.
Background:
Ample evidence attests to the relationship between short sleep duration, sleep problems and childhood obesity. However, few studies have examined the association between sleep timing and obesity in children.
Objectives:
To investigate how sleep duration, problems and timing relate to obesity and obesogenic behaviours in children.
Methods:
Eighty-five children (58.8% girls) with severe obesity and mean (SD) age of 12.1 (2.9) years, were matched by age and sex with peers with normal weight (n = 85,12.0 [2.8] years). Sleep and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured via accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Children self-reported emotional eating on the Dutch eating behavior questionnaire. Parents reported children's screen time and sleep problems.
Results:
Children with severe obesity had significantly later mean mid-sleep time, overall (36 minutes later, P < .001), on school nights (36 minutes later, P < .001) and weekend nights (39 minutes later, P = .002) compared to children with normal weight. Children with obesity had more sleep problems (P = .030), but no differences emerged in sleep duration or social jetlag. After adjusting for demographic factors, mid-sleep time was positively related to screen time (P = .030). Mid-sleep time and sleep duration were inversely related to time in MVPA (Ps ≤ .041). There were no other significant associations between the sleep variables and the obesogenic behaviours.
Conclusions:
Later sleep timing was related to obesogenic behaviours in children and may represent an obesity risk factor.
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