The association between sleep patterns and overweight/obesity in Chinese children: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study evaluated the association between sleep patterns and the risk of being overweight/obese in Chinese children.MethodsA total of 3,086 children (1,608 boys and 1,478 girls) between 7 and 14 years of age and studying in primary schools were recruited as eligible study participants in this study. We collected the information about children regarding sleep patterns, body height and weight, insomnia, healthy status, time allocation of daily activities, and demographic characteristics using a parental-reported questionnaire.ResultsOverweight/obese children were younger, predominantly male, and more prone to have suffered from illness in the past 12 months compared to normal-weight peers. They were also less prone to compensate for sleep deficits during weekends (47.6% vs 39.1%; χ2=11.637, P<0.001) and holidays (52.0% vs 42.0%; χ2=16.057, P<0.001). Sleep duration on weekdays did not affect the risk of being overweight/obese. The adjusted odds ratios for overweight/obesity (noncompensated) group using the compensated group as a reference were 1.197 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.004–1.493) during weekends and 1.309 (95% CI: 1.052–1.630) during holidays.ConclusionCompensation for sleep deficits on non-weekdays may ameliorate the risk of being overweight/obese in Chinese children. Moreover, no significant association between the risk of being overweight/obese and sleep duration on weekdays was demonstrated in the current study, which may be due to pervasive sleep insufficiency on weekdays in Chinese children.

Sleep quality and duration is related with diet and obesity in young adolescent living in Sicily, Southern Italy

“…; how many minutes did you sleep on any daytime naps? ; both on weekdays and weekend day, as made in other studies [14] , [15] . Sleep durations (hours) were calculated as the difference between self-reported bedtime and wake time, for weekdays, weekend, nap and the total week (the sum of the weekday sleep duration multiplied by five, and of the weekend sleep duration multiplied by two, was then divided by seven).…”

Adiposity in Adolescents: The Interplay of Sleep Duration and Sleep Variability

“…The notion of “catchup sleep” as protective of weight gain is supported by a few studies among Asian children or adolescents. 26–28 Two independent studies from Korea and Hong Kong showed that in subgroups of schoolchildren with self-reported short sleep duration, those with longer weekend catch-up sleep had lower odds of obesity compared with those with less weekend catch-up sleep. 27,28 Similarly, a Chinese study found that children who did not compensate for sleep on weekends or holidays had greater odds of overweight or obesity.…”

“…26–28 Two independent studies from Korea and Hong Kong showed that in subgroups of schoolchildren with self-reported short sleep duration, those with longer weekend catch-up sleep had lower odds of obesity compared with those with less weekend catch-up sleep. 27,28 Similarly, a Chinese study found that children who did not compensate for sleep on weekends or holidays had greater odds of overweight or obesity. 26 Finally, one US study that compared sleep patterns in overweight and obese children versus normal weight children noted that children in the obese category were more likely to have short sleep on weekends.…”

The Association Between Body Mass Index (BMI) and Sleep Duration: Where Are We after nearly Two Decades of Epidemiological Research?

“…Meta-analyses and systematic reviews over the years have largely observed that, both cross-sectionally [2,3,4,5] and longitudinally [3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11], shorter sleep is associated with higher BMI in children and adults. However, some studies have observed no cross-sectional [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20] or prospective relationship [21,22,23,24] between BMI and sleep duration. The aim of this review is not to provide an exhaustive appraisal of the epidemiological literature to date.…”