Association between sleep duration and obesity is age- and gender-dependent in Chinese urban children aged 6–18 years: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Yanna Zhu¹  Jin Jing¹  Baoting He¹  Muqing Cao¹  Yajun Chen¹  Wenhan Yang¹  Jun Ma² 

[1] Department of Maternal and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Yuexiu, 510080, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China;Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Sciences Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China;

关键词: Sleep;    Obesity;    Gender;    Age;    Children;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-2359-0

 received in 2015-05-17, accepted in 2015-09-28,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundInformation on the relationship between sleep duration and obesity among children in urban Guangzhou, China is limited. This study aims to examine the relationship between sleep duration and obesity in children aged 6–18 years.MethodsThe sample consisted of 11,830 children aged 6–18 years. The children were randomly selected from 13 schools in three urban districts of Guangzhou. The study was conducted from September to November 2013. The height and weight of the children were measured. Adiposity status was estimated using body mass index and according to the cut point in China criteria. In the structured questionnaire, children reported daily sleep hours (less than 7 h, 7–9 h and more than 9 h), weekly food intake amount (including vegetables, fruit, sugar beverages and meat), physical activity and sedentary time. A caretaker would answer the questionnaire on behalf of a child aged below nine.ResultsA total of 8,760 children (49.0 % boys) completed the study. The prevalence of obesity was 8.4 % (9.8 % in boys and 5.7 % in girls). Adjusted for age, diet and physical activity/sedentary behaviour, the odds ratio (OR) for obesity comparing sleeping <7 h (short sleep duration, SSD) with ≥9 h (long sleep duration, LSD) was 0.70 (95 % CI: 0.69–0.72) among boys and 1.73 (95 % CI: 1.71–1.74) among girls. Stratified by age, OR for boys aged 6–12 years comparing SSD with LSD was 0.60 (95 % CI: 0.55–0.66); by contrast, OR was 1.33 (95 % CI: 1.30–1.37) for boys aged 13–18 years.ConclusionShort sleep duration is associated with increased chances of obesity among girls and 13- to 18-year-old boys, but the chances of obesity are decreased among 6- to 12-year-old boys. Age and gender should be regarded as specific characteristics for the effects of short sleep on obesity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Cao et al. 2015