Children's sleep quality: relation with sleep duration and adiposity

• Published in: Public health (London) Vol. 128; no. 5; pp. 488 - 490
• Main Authors: Michels, N, Verbeiren, A, Ahrens, W, De Henauw, S, Sioen, I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Actigraphy; Adiposity - physiology; Age Factors; Belgium - epidemiology; Body Composition - physiology; Body Mass Index; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Infectious Disease; Internal Medicine; Linear Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Overweight - epidemiology; Parents - education; Parents - psychology; Sex Factors; Sleep - physiology; Socioeconomic Factors; Stress, Physiological; Time Factors; Belgium
• ISSN: 0033-3506; 1476-5616
• DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2014.02.003

A trend towards insufficient sleep duration and increasing sleep problems has been reported in children.[1] Several reviews have linked short sleep duration with adiposity, showing the strongest association in children and young adults.[2,3] Apart from sleep duration (hours spent in bed), sleep quality (i.e. an undisturbed, efficient sleep) should not be ignored. When having problems falling asleep or when suffering from frequent awakenings, actual sleep duration decreases and the body will not spend enough time in critical sleep phases, even if the total sleep duration remains sufficient.[1] Mostly, sleep quality has been measured by questionnaire (questions on problems falling asleep and frequent awakenings), but sleep quality can also be measured objectively with actigraphy (sleep efficiency by measuring movements during sleep) or polysomnography (measuring sleep architecture).