The association of urbanicity with infant sleep duration

Abstract

Short sleep duration is associated with multiple adverse child outcomes. We examined associations of the built environment with infant sleep duration among 1226 participants in a pre-birth cohort. From residential addresses, we used a geographic information system to determine urbanicity, population density, and closeness to major roadways. The main outcome was mother’s report of her infant’s average daily sleep duration at 1 year of age. We ranked urbanicity and population density as quintiles, categorized distance to major roads into 8 categories, and used linear regression adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, smoking during pregnancy, gestational age, fetal growth, and television viewing at 1 year. In this sample, mean (SD) sleep duration at age 1 year was 12.8 (1.6) hours/day. In multivariable adjusted analyses, children living in the highest quintile of urbanicity slept −19.2 minutes/day (95% CI: −37.0, −1.50) less than those living in the lowest quintile. Neither population density nor closeness to major roadways was associated with infant sleep duration after multivariable adjustment. Our findings suggest that living in more urban environments may be associated with reduced infant sleep.

Recent Updates in the Social and Environmental Determinants of Sleep Health

“…These studies find that a range of sleep measures, including sleep quality, sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, and sleep latency, are adversely associated with living in neighborhoods that are characterized by disorder, low social cohesion, and low socioeconomic status. These patterns have been observed among adults [4–11], adolescents [12, 13], and, to a lesser extent, children [14]. …”

“…Adverse associations between neighborhood factors and sleep outcomes are also found among children and adolescents [12–14]; however, the relationship has not been evaluated as extensively as for adults [12]. In an analysis of 1226 mother-child pairs in a prospective pre-birth cohort, infants living in the most urban areas slept significantly less per day than infants in the least urban areas [14].…”

“…In an analysis of 1226 mother-child pairs in a prospective pre-birth cohort, infants living in the most urban areas slept significantly less per day than infants in the least urban areas [14]. Additionally, a cross-sectional ( n =263) and longitudinal assessment ( n =7945) of teens living in the USA examines sleep outcomes in relation to two aspects of community disadvantage: hopelessness and violence exposure.…”

Association between greenness, urbanicity, and birth weight

“…(Ebisu et al, 2011) Urban environments are also associated with shorter sleeping duration for infants. (Bottino et al, 2012) These studies used the degree of urbanicity around residence to represent integrated environmental exposures that are prevalent in urban environments such as noise, traffic emission, and other factors. In general, urbanicity and greenness show negative correlations, and several researchers focused on greenness rather than urbanicity.…”

Growing Right Onto Wellness (GROW): A family-centered, community-based obesity prevention randomized controlled trial for preschool child–parent pairs

“…The multi-level approach integrates a range of strategies to address the problem of childhood obesity in the context of a complex set of societal, family, and individual factors that contribute to the obesity epidemic [15]. This trial builds on successes from the field of pediatric obesity treatment, considering parents as agents of change, and implementing a family-based behavioral intervention that focuses on healthy nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral modifications [5, 10, 16–20]. Finally, GROW is based in local community centers in order to maximize the use of the built environment [21].…”