Longitudinal associations between facets of sleep and adiposity in youth

Abstract

ObjectiveBeyond sleep duration, other facets of sleep such as variability and timing may be associated with obesity risk in youth. However, data are limited. Using a longitudinal design, this study tested whether multiple facets of sleep were associated with fat mass gain over 1 year.MethodsA convenience sample of non‐treatment‐seeking youth (age 8‐17 years) wore actigraphy monitors for 14 days. Average weekly sleep duration, within‐person sleep duration variability, weekend catch‐up sleep, bedtime and wake time shift, social jet lag, bedtime, wake time, and sleep midpoint were calculated. The association of each facet of baseline sleep with 1‐year fat mass, adjusting for baseline fat mass and height, was examined.ResultsA total of 137 youths (54.0% female; mean [SD], age 12.5 [2.6] years; 28.4% non‐Hispanic Black or African American; baseline fat mass = 15.3 [8.9] kg; 1‐year fat mass = 17.0 [10.0] kg; 28.5% with baseline overweight or obesity) were studied. Wake time (p = 0.03) and sleep midpoint (p = 0.02) were inversely associated with 1‐year fat mass, such that earlier wake time and midpoint were associated with higher 1‐year fat mass. No other facet of sleep was significantly associated with 1‐year fat mass (p > 0.09).ConclusionsUsing objective measures, youth with earlier wake times and sleep midpoints had greater gains in fat mass. Additional research is needed to determine whether sleep timing may be a modifiable target to prevent pediatric obesity.

Association between Sleep, Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Adiposity in Adolescents: A Prospective Observational Study

“…Finally, additional attention should be paid to sleep metrics beyond duration. As described with physical activity intensity, other contextual metrics should be considered, which for sleep may include social jetlag (i.e., shift from school night to weekend bedtime), sleep efficiency, and sleep hygiene as explored in other studies in this age range (38,48). The analytic sample included those adolescents who had accelerometry data for at least one weekend day; however, the analysis may be influenced by the differing composition of weekend and weekdays included (e.g., sleep data from some adolescents may be from all weekend days whereas others may have two weekdays and one weekend day).…”

“…The adolescent isotemporal substitution literature is mixed, with Dumuid et al (2018) finding an association between longer sleep days and lower adiposity composite score (including body fat percentage, BMI z -score, and waist-to-height ratio) (37) and Verswijveren et al (2021) finding no association between sleep and BMI or waist circumference (15). Yet, a recent longitudinal study of 137 children and adolescents (8–17 yr) reported that characteristics of sleep (e.g., wake time and sleep midpoint) were associated with percent fat mass 1 yr later but not associated with sleep duration (38). The differences in results may reflect the current study’s use of abdominal adipose tissue compared with anthropometry and longer follow-up time (2 yr) compared with others (1 yr) (38).…”

“…Yet, a recent longitudinal study of 137 children and adolescents (8–17 yr) reported that characteristics of sleep (e.g., wake time and sleep midpoint) were associated with percent fat mass 1 yr later but not associated with sleep duration (38). The differences in results may reflect the current study’s use of abdominal adipose tissue compared with anthropometry and longer follow-up time (2 yr) compared with others (1 yr) (38). These differences in design allow for more specific assessment of adiposity and additional time for adipose tissue to accumulate, assuming these movement behavior patterns continued over 2 yr.…”

Irregular sleep and cardiometabolic risk: Clinical evidence and mechanisms

“…It is worth noting that the participants of the above studies were mainly adults. Regarding adolescents, multiple studies have not reported a clear association between SJL and measures of obesity (26,28,63). In a cross-sectional study of Latino minors, SJL was associated with healthier behaviors and lower odds of being overweight (28).…”

Age, sex and race distribution of accelerometer-derived sleep variability in US school-aged children and adults

“…The variation of sleep duration and sleep timing from day to day can also be measured by the standard deviation of sleep duration (sleep duration SD) and the standard deviation of midpoint of sleep (midpoint of sleep SD). Inconsistency in sleep patterns has been linked to numerous negative health outcomes including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disruptions, immune system regulation, and many other adverse health conditions [4][5][6][7] . For example, large variability in sleep duration (> 1 h of sleep duration SD) has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults and suicidal ideation in young adults 8 4 .…”