Background: Youths with overweight and obesity report frequent instances of weight-based teasing. However, little is known about the prospective associations between weight-based teasing and changes in body composition among youth. Objectives: To assess associations between weight-based teasing and changes in BMI and fat mass in a longitudinal study of youths with, or at-risk for, overweight and obesity. Methods: One hundred ten youths with, or at-risk for, overweight participated in a longitudinal observational study. The Perception of Teasing Scale was administered at baseline. Height, weight, and body composition were obtained at baseline and at follow-ups (range: 1–15 years). Results: Mean age at baseline was 11.8y; 53% had overweight/obesity; 36% were Non-Hispanic Black; 55% were female; mean follow-up from baseline: 8.5y. Adjusting for covariates and repeated measures of BMI or fat mass, linear mixed models revealed that weight-based teasing was associated with greater gain of BMI and fat mass across the follow-up period (ps ≤ .007). Adjusting for covariates, youths reporting high weight-based teasing (two standard deviations above the mean) are predicted to gain an additional .20 kg/m2 in BMI and .65 kg of fat mass per year compared to peers who report no weight-based teasing. Conclusions: Among youths with, and at-risk for, overweight and obesity, weight-based teasing was associated with greater weight and fat gain.

Background: Self-reported short sleep duration is associated with greater risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS), obesity, and higher energy intake (EI). However, studies of these associations in children using objective methods are sparse. Objectives: To determine the associations for sleep patterns with MetS indices, body composition, and EI using objective measures in children. Methods: Free-living sleep and physical activity were measured in 125 children (aged 8–17y, BMI-z=0.57±1.0, 55% female) using wrist-worn actigraphs for 14 nights. Blood pressure, fasting blood levels of lipids, insulin, glucose, waist circumference, and body composition (DXA) were obtained during outpatient visits. EI was assessed during an ad libitum buffet meal. Results: Later weekday and weekend bedtimes were associated with higher systolic blood pressure (ps<.05). Sleep duration and bedtime were not significantly associated with other components of MetS, body composition, or EI. Short sleepers (duration <7h) consumed a greater percentage of carbohydrates than those with adequate (≥7h) sleep (p<.05). Conclusion: Indicators of sleep duration were variably associated with children’s eating patterns and risk for chronic disease. Prospective data are needed to determine whether these indicators of sleep quality represent unique or shared risk factors for poor health outcomes.

Insufficient average sleep duration has been inconsistently associated with poor diet and obesity risks in youth. Inconsistencies in findings across studies may be due to a general failure to examine associations in weekday versus weekend sleep. We hypothesized that greater variations in weekday and weekend sleep duration would be associated with more disinhibited eating behaviors, which, in turn, might be involved in the relationship between sleep and weight. We, therefore, examined, among healthy, non-treatment seeking youth, the associations of average weekly, weekend, and weekday sleep duration with eating in the absence of hunger (EAH), a disinhibited eating behavior associated with disordered eating and obesity. Sleep was assessed via actigraphy for 14 days. Participants completed a self-report measure of EAH. Adiposity was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Linear regressions were used to test the associations of sleep duration with EAH and the associations of sleep duration and EAH, with fat mass. Among 123 participants (8–17 years, 52.0% female, and 30.9% with overweight), there was no significant association between average weekly sleep and EAH. Further, there was no significant association among average weekly sleep duration or EAH and fat mass. However, average weekday sleep was negatively associated, and average weekend sleep was positively associated, with EAH (ps < 0.02). Weekend “catch-up” sleep (the difference between weekend and weekday sleep) was positively associated with EAH (p < 0.01). Findings indicate that shorter weekday sleep and greater weekend “catch-up” sleep are associated with EAH, which may place youth at risk for the development of excess weight gain over time.