Short Sleep Duration and Risk for Childhood Obesity

Each 1-hour reduction in sleep was associated with a 40% increase in the risk for obesity.

Although genetics is the major contributing factor to childhood obesity, environmental factors offer opportunities for clinical or public health prevention. Previous studies have linked shorter sleep duration with obesity in children and adolescents, but most of these studies did not assess psychological factors that might confound the association. In a cross-sectional study of 819 children (age range, 8–11 years; 17% obese), investigators examined the influence of parent and child psychological and behavioral factors on the relation between sleep duration and obesity.

Standardized validated parent questionnaires were used to measure child sleep duration, child psychological and behavioral functioning, and parent stress. In unadjusted and ad…

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics