Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

The possible influence of sleep in childhood obesity

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, page 281 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Obesity has become a public health problem, especially in children, and has been increasing over the years. In the last 20 years, the prevalence in the United States has increased by almost 300% among children, and one quarter of children under age five are either overweight or obese.1 Obesity in children has become an epidemic that is related to various others diseases, leading to a research shift focusing towards understanding the mechanisms and factors related to this disorder. Thus, we would like to praise Sacco et al.2 for their study addressing the relationship between birth weight, rapid weight gain during childhood and additional markers of overweight and obesity. We would like to highlight the efforts of these authors on their accomplishment of this research and suggest additional considerations for future investigations.

Sleep is important for overall health, particularly during childhood, as 5-year-old children spend 45% of the day asleep;3 sleep is related to the development of cognition and behaviour.4 However, due to the current modern lifestyle, children are being affected by sleep deprivation. For instance, a recent study showed an association between reduced sleep duration during childhood and increased body mass index (BMI) at adulthood.5 Another study showed that an increase in sleep duration can reduce BMI in children.6 Moreover, sleep deprivation induces metabolic and endocrine disorders, leading to increased levels of ghrelin, decreased leptin and, consequently, increased appetite, food intake and subsequent weight gain.7, 8 Therefore, we suggest the evaluation of sleep in future studies, for example, through a method as simple as a sleep diary. Our suggestion could exclude this potential confounding factor for weight gain and improve data analyses.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Messiah SE, Arheart KL, Natale RA, Hlaing WM, Lipshultz SE, Miller TL . BMI, waist circumference, and selected cardiovascular disease risk factors among preschool-age children. Obesity 2012; 20: 1942–1949.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sacco MR, de Castro NP, Euclydes VLV, Souza JM, Rondó PHC . Birth weight, rapid weight gain in infancy and markers of overweight and obesity in childhood. Eur J Clin Nutr 2013; 67: 1147–1153.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Carno MA, Hoffman LA, Carcillo JA, Sanders MH . Developmental stages of sleep from birth to adolescence, common childhood sleep disorders: overview and nursing implications. J Pediatr Nurs 2003; 18: 274–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sadeh A, Gruber R, Raviv A . Sleep, neurobehavioral functioning, and behavior problems in school-age children. Child Dev 2002; 73: 405–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Landhuis CE, Poulton R, Welch D, Hancox RJ . Childhood sleep time and long-term risk for obesity: a 32-year prospective birth cohort study. Pediatrics 2008; 122: 955–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Haines J, McDonald J, O'Brien A, Sherry B, Bottino CJ, Schmidt ME et al. Healthy habits happy homes: randomized trial to improve household routines for obesity prevention among preschool-aged children. JAMA Pediatr 2013; 167: 1072–1079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gozal D, Kheirandish-Gozal L . Childhood obesity and sleep: relatives, partners, or both?—a critical perspective on the evidence. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2012; 1264: 135–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Leproult R, Van Cauter E . Role of sleep and sleep loss in hormonal release and metabolism. Endocr Dev 2010; 17: 11–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rossiter MD, Evers SE . Infant feeding practices and children's weight status. Can J Diet Pract Res 2013; 74: 107–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rodgers RF, Paxton SJ, Massey R, Campbell KJ, Wertheim EH, Skouteris H et al. Maternal feeding practices predict weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviors in young children: a prospective study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2013; 10: 24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We confirm that we have read the Journal’s position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines. Our work has been supported by Associação Fundo de Incentivo à Pesquisa (AFIP). Byline, ACB, KTN and DNP wrote the manuscript and researched data; ST and MLA contributed to the content and revised the text.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psicobiologia—Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    A C Boin, K T Nozoe, D N Polesel, M L Andersen & S Tufik

  2. Faculdade de Medicina de Marília, Marília, Brazil

    A C Boin

Authors
  1. A C Boin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K T Nozoe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D N Polesel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M L Andersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S Tufik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M L Andersen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

These authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Boin, A., Nozoe, K., Polesel, D. et al. The possible influence of sleep in childhood obesity. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 281 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.247

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.247

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links