Sleep Duration and Quality Associated With Obesity Among Arab Children

Abstract

The link between sleep duration and obesity has been well established in adults, but several epidemiological studies revealed inconsistent findings in adolescents and younger children. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep length and obesity in Saudi students. A total of 5,877 Saudi students, boys (55.2%) and girls (44.8%), aged between 10 and 19 years were randomly selected from elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools in different regions of Riyadh. A questionnaire on sleep behaviors was given. Anthropometry included BMI and waist and hip circumferences. Sleeping ≤7 h significantly increased the risk of obesity in both boys and girls (all age categories) (odds ratio = 1.25–1.38, 95% confidence intervals = 1.02–1.89). Overall prevalence of overweight and obese were higher among those sleeping intermittently (18.68%) than those sleeping continuously (14.5%) (P = 0.024). Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality are significantly associated with obesity among Arab youth. Further studies need to employ more objective measures of sleep, such as actigraphy, and examine the mechanism of these associations.

Magnitude of Overweight/Obesity and Associated Factors among High School Adolescents’ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…This finding was in line with result from South Korea, where reduced sleep duration among adolescents was strongly associated with a greater risk for overweight/obesity, P<0.0001 [22]. Supporting result from Saudi Arabia revealed that sleeping short duration significantly increased the risk of being obese among adolescents [23]. Similar report from Italy showed that short sleep duration was significantly associated with obesity for school children [24].…”

Hypovitaminosis D and cardiometabolic risk factors among non-obese youth

“…More than one-fourth of the Saudi adult population is hypertensive [2]; 40% of the same cohort has hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 1.69 mmol/L) [3] and 39% harbors the complete metabolic syndrome [4]. Studies done in Saudi children, on the other hand, reveal increased incidence of obesity due to improved nutrition [5], sedentary lifestyle [6] and poor sleeping habits [7]. Taken together, these morbidities could potentially overwhelm the already burdened public health system if left ignored.…”

Association between sleep quality and obesity in adolescents

“…23 Sleep duration also contributes to sleep quality. 6,12 In our study, most adolescents had poor sleep quality, and the median PSQI score in the obese group was significantly higher than that in the nonobese group. A study in Lebanon found that 58.7% of adolescents had poor sleep quality with the mean PSQI score was 6.57 and a range of PSQI scores of 3 to 10.…”

“…11,21 Several epidemiological studies have noted links between obesity and sleep. 12 The major sleep problem among adolescents is sleep deprivation. 23 Sleep duration also contributes to sleep quality.…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that an estimated 22 million children under 5 years of age and 10% of school-aged children between 5 and 17 years were overweight or obese. 9,11,12 Nutrition and physical activity have been the major focus of research on obesity prevention, while other risk factors such as sleep quality have received much less attention. 13 We aimed to assess for an association between sleep quality and obesity in adolescents.…”