Environmental Light Exposure Is Associated with Increased Body Mass in Children

Abstract

The timing, intensity, and duration of exposure to both artificial and natural light have acute metabolic and physiological effects in mammals. Recent research in human adults suggests exposure to moderate intensity light later in the day is concurrently associated with increased body mass; however, no studies have investigated the effect of light exposure on body mass in young children. We examined objectively measured light exposure and body mass of 48 preschool-aged children at baseline, and measured their body mass again 12 months later. At baseline, moderate intensity light exposure earlier in the day was associated with increased body mass index (BMI). Increased duration of light exposure at baseline predicted increased BMI 12-months later, even after controlling for baseline sleep duration, sleep timing, BMI, and activity. The findings identify that light exposure may be a contributor to the obesogenic environment during early childhood.

Time spent outdoors during preschool: Links with children's cognitive and behavioral development

“…A similar link has been observed in humans, since the prevalence of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) is lower in geographical areas with high levels of sunlight exposure (Arns, van der Heijden, Arnold, & Kenemans, 2013). Daylight is the principal cue for biological rhythms entrainment in all species (Cao et al, 2015) and is implicated in endocrine (Middleton, Arendt, & Stone, 1997;Scheer & Buijs, 1999), metabolic (Pattinson et al, 2015;Reid et al, 2014), circadian , and cognitive functioning (Cajochen, 2007;Vandewalle, Maquet, & Dijk, 2009).…”

“…For example, the outdoor environment offers opportunities for unrestricted play and physical activity , fresh air, learning experiences (Maynard & Waters, 2007), attention restoration (Ohly et al, 2016), and daylight exposure (Ancoli-Israel et al, 1997). In turn, exposure to these elements may protect against a host of health problems (Pate et al, 1995;Pattinson, Allan, Staton, Thorpe, & Smith, 2015).…”

A Diurnal Rhythm in Brown Adipose Tissue Causes Rapid Clearance and Combustion of Plasma Lipids at Wakening

“…Importantly, changes in daily light exposure duration are pertinent to metabolic health. Human studies have shown that exposure to light at night correlates to a higher body weight (McFadden et al, 2014;Rybnikova et al, 2016) and prolonged duration of environmental light exposure predicts increased weight gain in children (Pattinson et al, 2016). We previously identified impaired BAT activity as the potential missing link in the established association between perturbations in circadian rhythms and metabolic disorders by demonstrating that prolonged daily light exposure reduces BAT activity and induces adiposity in mice (Kooijman et al, 2015a).…”

Prevalence of night sleep duration, sleep quality and sleep hygiene practices among children attending childcare services in New South Wales, Australia

“…The study, commencing in 2004, found children aged 4–5 years were getting, on average, 10 h 55 m sleep per night, a finding consistent with the recommendations of the US National Sleep Foundation for this age group . Another Australian study measured sleep in children aged 3–5 years using actigraphy and found that children sleep an average of 9.6 h across the day . However, the proportion of pre‐school‐aged children meeting sleep duration recommendations in Australia is unknown.…”