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Sex differences in childhood sleep and health implications

Stacey D Elkhatib Smidt1,2,3, Talia Hitt4, Babette S Zemel5,6

  • 1Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Annals of Human Biology
|February 2, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Sex differences in childhood sleep emerge in adolescence, with females reporting more impaired sleep. This pattern was also seen in female children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Childhood Metabolic Health

Background:

  • Sleep is crucial for children's metabolic health and neurodevelopment.
  • Limited understanding exists regarding sex differences in childhood sleep and their metabolic impact.
  • Neurodevelopmental disorders, like autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may present unique sleep challenges influenced by sex.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex differences in childhood sleep patterns.
  • To determine if sleep's association with metabolic health varies by sex.
  • To examine sleep sex differences in children with ASD as a model neurodevelopmental disorder.

Main Methods:

  • A narrative literature review was conducted.
  • The review focused on studies examining sex differences in childhood sleep.
  • Data synthesis explored associations with neurodevelopment and metabolic health.

Main Results:

  • No significant sleep sex differences were found in pre-adolescents.
  • Female adolescents reported more impaired sleep compared to males.
  • Children with ASD showed a trend towards impaired sleep in pre-adolescent females, despite ASD being more common in males.

Conclusions:

  • Sleep sex differences manifest during adolescence, with females experiencing more sleep impairment.
  • Impaired sleep in adolescent females may have implications for metabolic health.
  • Further research is essential to elucidate sex-specific mechanisms in childhood sleep, neurodevelopment, and metabolic health.
Abstract

Keywords:
Sleepautism spectrum disorderobesitypaediatricssex

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