Is obesity associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents?

Abstract

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and more developed countries, particularly so among adolescents. A substantial impact on public health could be achieved if other factors causing obesity besides the conventional ones of diet and physical activity could be identified and acted upon. The present study investigates whether there is a link between low sleep quality and obesity in a tri-ethnic, cross-sectional sample (n = 383) of male and female adolescents ages 11-16 years old (Heartfelt Study). Sleep quality was expressed as two variables, total sleep time and sleep disturbance time obtained by 24-hour wrist actigraphy. Percent body fat and body mass index (BMI) were used together to define obesity. The potential influence of demographic and behavioral confounders were considered in models that described the relation of sleep to obesity occurrence. Obese adolescents experienced less sleep than nonobese adolescents (P < 0.01). For each hour of lost sleep, the odds of obesity increased by 80%. Sleep disturbance was not directly related to obesity in the sample, but influenced physical activity level (P < 0.01). Daytime physical activity diminished by 3% for every hour increase in sleep disturbance. The above observations were independent of potential confounding variables. Inadequate and poor sleep quality in adolescents may be important factors to consider in the prevention of childhood obesity.

Behavioural correlates of active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents: the AFINOS (Physical Activity as a Preventive Measure Against Overweight, Obesity, Infections, Allergies, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Adolescents) study

“…In addition, our study suggests that adolescents who sleep enough hours at night according to the public health recommendation for these ages (12) are likely to commute actively to school. Several previous studies that examined the associations between sleep duration and daily physical activity in adolescents reported contradictory findings and, overall, did not support a plausible cause-and-effect relationship (17)(18)(19) . Morning fatigue may mediate our significant association between sleep duration and active commuting to school (19) .…”

Nutritional status, growth and sleep habits among Senegalese adolescent girls

“…In these studies, differences between time spent in bed and effective sleep duration are difficult to ascertain. Only a few studies have relied on objective methods such as accelerometry (Kramer et al, 1999;Gupta et al, 2002). In the present study, it was not possible to use questionnaires or diaries for practical reasons (the girls did not have a precise knowledge of time) and direct observation of behaviour implied an unacceptable intrusion into the adolescents' privacy.…”

“…Most of our knowledge of the topic stems from research carried out in industrialized countries. In those studies, the importance of sleep as a component of daily energy expenditure was seldom considered, apart from its relation to obesity (Gupta et al, 2002) or sports participation (Ribeyre et al, 2000). However, in a developing country like Senegal where food insecurity is widespread, and dietary intakes insufficient at certain periods (Simondon et al, 1993), sleep and rest may act as a buffer mechanism to spare energy.…”

“…There is great interest in studying the sleep habits of children and adolescents, since they appear to be linked to somatic disorders such as respiratory diseases (Camhi et al, 2000), injuries (Valent et al, 2001), overweight or obesity (Gupta et al, 2002), psychological conditions including anxiety, depression, and aggressive behaviour (Meijer et al, 2000); alcohol or substance consumption and social and family disturbances (Vignau et al, 1997;Stein et al, 2001). Many adolescents complain about too short a sleep length, difficulties in falling asleep and waking up, and sleepiness during the daytime (Vignau et al, 1997).…”

Sleep-related disturbances and physical inactivity are independently associated with obesity in adults

“…6,7 The most probable sleep factor linked with obesity is sleep duration. Cross-sectional evidence suggests an association between short sleep and obesity in children [8][9][10][11] and in young adults. [12][13][14][15] In addition, two prospective cohort studies have shown that short sleep predicts future weight gain in young adults 16 and in middle-aged women.…”