Short sleep duration associated with obesity in children

January 01, 0001

Short sleep duration associated with obesity in children

These Chinese investigators studied the association between sleep duration and risk of hyperglycemia among preschool children in a population-based cross-sectional study including 619 obese and 617 age-matched nonobese children from 71 randomly selected kindergartens.

They found: “Obese children were more likely to have shorter sleep duration (8 hours) compared with their nonobese counterparts. Compared with those who slept for 9 or 10 hours per night, those who slept for 8 hours or less had a significantly higher likelihood of having hyperglycemia, controlling for age and sex (OR 1.65). After further adjustment for other potential confounders, the association still remained statistically significant (OR 1.64). In the stratified multivariable analyses, those who were obese and slept for 8 hours or less had an increased risk of having hyperglycemia (OR 2.12) compared with those who were nonobese and slept for 9 hours or more.”

The authors concluded: “Shorter sleep duration is associated with an increased risk of having hyperglycemia among preschool Chinese children. Whether adequate sleep may help maintain euglycemia among children, especially for those who are overweight or obese, warrants further investigation.”

Causality can’t be determined by this study design so we will have to wait further research.


For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 164(1):46-52, January 2010. © 2010 to the American Medical Association
A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of 5 Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapies. Megan E. Piper, Stevens S. Smith, Tanya R. Schlam, et al. Correspondence to: Dr. Piper: [email protected]

Category: T. Endocrine/Metqbolic/Nutritional. Keywords: children, sleep, obesity, hyperglycemia, case-control study
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 12 January 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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