Association between sleep duration and obesity is age- and gender-dependent in Chinese urban children aged 6–18 years: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundInformation on the relationship between sleep duration and obesity among children in urban Guangzhou, China is limited. This study aims to examine the relationship between sleep duration and obesity in children aged 6–18 years.MethodsThe sample consisted of 11,830 children aged 6–18 years. The children were randomly selected from 13 schools in three urban districts of Guangzhou. The study was conducted from September to November 2013. The height and weight of the children were measured. Adiposity status was estimated using body mass index and according to the cut point in China criteria. In the structured questionnaire, children reported daily sleep hours (less than 7 h, 7–9 h and more than 9 h), weekly food intake amount (including vegetables, fruit, sugar beverages and meat), physical activity and sedentary time. A caretaker would answer the questionnaire on behalf of a child aged below nine.ResultsA total of 8,760 children (49.0 % boys) completed the study. The prevalence of obesity was 8.4 % (9.8 % in boys and 5.7 % in girls). Adjusted for age, diet and physical activity/sedentary behaviour, the odds ratio (OR) for obesity comparing sleeping <7 h (short sleep duration, SSD) with ≥9 h (long sleep duration, LSD) was 0.70 (95 % CI: 0.69–0.72) among boys and 1.73 (95 % CI: 1.71–1.74) among girls. Stratified by age, OR for boys aged 6–12 years comparing SSD with LSD was 0.60 (95 % CI: 0.55–0.66); by contrast, OR was 1.33 (95 % CI: 1.30–1.37) for boys aged 13–18 years.ConclusionShort sleep duration is associated with increased chances of obesity among girls and 13- to 18-year-old boys, but the chances of obesity are decreased among 6- to 12-year-old boys. Age and gender should be regarded as specific characteristics for the effects of short sleep on obesity.

Childhood overweight, obesity and associated factors among primary school children in dire dawa, eastern Ethiopia; a cross-sectional study

“…This was consistent with studies done in China [39], Ghana and Uganda [22]. In contrary to the findings of this study, a study conducted in China [43] revealed that short sleep duration and sleeping in the afternoon was not associated with obesity. This discrepancy might be due to difference in sleeping habits and age of the participants.…”

Sleep and obesity among children: A systematic review of multiple sleep dimensions

“…There was also some evidence for gender patterning: with nine of the 103 reviewed articles reporting on sleep duration indicating the association between sleep duration and Ow/Ob as significant among boys only ; while three reported it as significant among girls only; and one reported mixed results across genders, as mentioned above …”

“…Of the 103 articles reporting on sleep duration: 86 (83%) reported a significant negative association between duration of sleep and measured weight status, where shorter sleep durations were linked with poorer weight status measures. In contrast, one study reported overweight and obesity to be higher among longer sleepers (>10 hours/night); while another study indicated mixed results, where girls with short sleep displayed higher weight status and boys with short sleep displayed lower weight status measures . Only 15 articles (14%) found no significant association between children's sleep duration and measured weight status.…”

Defining short and long sleep duration for future paediatric research: A systematic literature review

“…The methods used to establish an applied cut‐off regarding normal versus abnormal sleep duration were also varied. Examination of sleep was reported either as total sleep in 24 hr (Bawazeer et al., ; Bornhorst et al., ; Franckle et al., ; Garaulet et al., ; Kuciene & Dulskiene, ; Lee & Park, ; Li et al., ; Ozturk et al., ; Shi et al., ; Taveras et al., ; Wu et al., ) or as sleep occurring at night (Altenburg et al., ; Amaral et al., ; Bathory et al., ; Bel et al., ; Biggs et al., ; Bonuck et al., ; Cao et al., ; Carrillo‐Larco et al., ; Chaput & Janssen, ; Danielsen et al., ; De Heredia et al., ; De Jong et al., ; Eisenmann et al., ; Fisher et al., ; Halal et al., ; Hayley et al., ; Hense et al., ; Hysing et al., ; Javaheri et al., ; Kjeldsen et al., ; Lam, ; Lam & Yang, ; Leger et al., ; Li et al., ; McDonald et al., ; Morrissey et al., ; Roberts & Duong, ). Daytime napping was presented by some studies, but was only included in the total sleep duration in a portion of these articles (Bathory et al., ; Biggs et al., ; Bornhorst et al., ; Fisher et al., ; Kuciene & Dulskiene, ; Lam & Yang, ; Li et al., ; Taveras et al., ).…”