Abstract
Objective: To determine if sleep difficulties are associated with overweight/obesity status among preadolescents.
Methods: A total of 606 (288 males, 318 females) students, ages 11–13 years from southern Ontario, Canada, were included in this analysis. Overweight/obesity status was determined using age- and gender-specific criteria. Sleep difficulty status was determined if the parents reported children ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ experiencing waking up at night, snoring or breathing loudly, and restlessness while sleeping. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of childhood overweight status and sleep difficulties adjusting for age, gender, total physical activity score, total calories intake, maternal education level, and total hours of sleep.
Results: In this sample, 28% of children (76 boys and 95 girls) were identified as being overweight or obese. Relative to their normal-weight peers, overweight and obese individuals reported a higher prevalence of sleep difficulties (10.3% vs. 26.3%, p<0.0001), reduced hours of sleep (9.4 vs. 9.2 hrs, p<0.001), and a lower physical activity score (17.2 vs. 19.1, p<0.01). Using a multiple logistic regression model, in comparison to children reporting none of the three sleep behaviour problems, the odds ratios (95% CI) of being overweight or obese for those having any one, two, or all three sleep behaviour problems were 1.04 (0.46–2.36), 1.35 (0.58–2.10), and 3.52 (1.42–8.74), respectively.
Conclusions: The results suggest that the risk of overweight/obesity is associated with sleep difficulties among preadolescents. Further study is needed to determine the direction of this relationship.
Key Words: Sleep difficulty, preadolescents, obesity
Résumé
Objectif: Déterminer si les troubles du sommeil sont associées au surpoids/à l’obésité chez les préadolescents.
Méthode: Notre étude a porté sur 606 élèves en tout (288 garçons, 318 filles) âgés de 11 à 13 ans et habitant le Sud de l’Ontario, au Canada. Nous avons déterminé le statut de surpoids ou d’obésité selon des critères liés à l’âge et au sexe. Nous avons déterminé le statut de troubles du sommeil si les parents déclaraient que leurs enfants éprouvaient « parfois » ou « souvent » certains symptômes (se réveiller la nuit, ronfler ou respirer bruyamment, avoir un sommeil agité). Au moyen d’analyses de régression logistique, nous avons étudié l’association entre le surpoids de l’enfant et les troubles du sommeil en tenant compte de l’âge, du sexe, du score d’activité physique total, de l’apport total en calories, du niveau d’instruction maternel et du nombre total d’heures de sommeil.
Résultats: Dans notre échantillon, 28 % des enfants (76 garçons et 95 filles) ont été reconnus comme étant obèses ou en surpoids. Par rapport à leurs pairs de poids normal, les sujets en surpoids et obèses déclaraient une prévalence plus élevée de troubles du sommeil (10,3 % c. 26,3 %, p<0,0001), moins d’heures de sommeil (9,4 c. 9,2 heures, p<0,001) et un score d’activité physique inférieur (17,2 c. 19,1, p<0,01). Selon un modèle d’analyse de régression logistique multiple, à comparer à ceux des enfants qui ne déclaraient aucun des trois troubles du sommeil, les rapports de cotes (IC de 95 %) liés au statut de surpoids ou d’obésité, chez les élèves qui manifestaient un, deux ou les trois troubles du sommeil, étaient de 1,04 (0,46–2,36), 1,35 (0,58–2,10) et 3,52 (1,42–8,74), respectivement.
Conclusion: Ces résultats donnent à penser que le risque de surpoids ou d’obésité est relié aux troubles du sommeil chez les préadolescents. Il faudrait pousser la recherche pour déterminer le sens de cette relation.
Mots Clés: troubles du sommeil, préadolescents, obésité
Footnotes
Funding: This study was funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant number - #171577) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number: 410-2007-1770).
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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