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Childhood obesity is alarming because of its associations with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary complications and because an estimated 60% to 85% of obese children remain obese as adults. In this prospective cohort study, investigators tested the association of sleep duration (reported by parents at the children’s ages 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5, and 6 years) with body-mass index (measured at ages 2.5 and 6 years) in 1492 families.
Four sleep patterns emerged: short persistent (<10 hours nightly at each age), short increasing (<10 hours at 2.5 years, followed by ≥10 hours thereafter), 10-hour persistent, and 11-hour persistent. A greater percentage of children were overweight or obese at age 6 in the short persistent (22%) and short incre…