Children: Stay Asleep and Stay Lean

In the first longitudinal study to measure sleep objectively, reduced sleep duration during early childhood increased risk for becoming overweight.

Short sleep duration has been linked with increased risk for obesity in children. In a longitudinal study, researchers in New Zealand used objective measures of sleep and body composition to examine this association in 244 children (83% white) recruited from a birth cohort and followed from age 3 to 7 years.

Sleep duration and physical activity were determined by accelerometer at ages 3, 4, and 5 years. Body-mass index (BMI), anthropometry, and body composition (fat mass and free fat mass measured by bioelectrical impedance and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) were assessed annually. Children's dietary intake and maternal BMI, education, and smoking during pregnancy were assessed by questionnaire.

In analysis adjusted for multiple confounder…

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