The relationship between body mass index and sleep in women with risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus

Abstract

BackgroundBoth obesity and sleep disorders are common among women during pregnancy. Although prior research has identified a relationship between obesity and sleep disorders, those findings are from women later in pregnancy.ObjectiveTo explore the relationships between self‐reported sleep duration, insufficient sleep and snoring with body mass index (BMI) among multiethnic women at risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)in early pregnancy.MethodsCross‐sectional study of baseline data from women at risk of GDM enrolled in the Treatment of BOoking Gestational diabetes Mellitus (TOBOGM) multicentre trial across 12 Australian/Austrian sites. Participants completed a questionnaire before 20 weeks’ gestation to evaluate sleep. BMI <25 kg/m2 served as the reference group in multivariable logistic regression.ResultsAmong the 2865 women included, the prevalence of overweight and obesity classes I‐III was 28%, 19%, 11% and 12%, respectively. There was no relationship between sleep duration and BMI. The risk of insufficient sleep >5 days/month was higher in class II and class III obesity (1.38 (1.03–1.85) and 1.34 (1.01–1.80), respectively), and the risk of snoring increased as BMI increased (1.59 (1.25–2.02), 2.68 (2.07–3.48), 4.35 (3.21–5.88) to 4.96 (3.65–6.74), respectively)).ConclusionsObesity is associated with insufficient sleep among pregnant women at risk of GDM. Snoring is more prevalent with increasing BMI.