Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;15(7):434-442.
doi: 10.1089/chi.2018.0362. Epub 2019 Jul 10.

Sleep Duration and Weight-Related Behaviors among Adolescents

Rachel Widome  1 , Kathleen M Lenk  1 , Melissa N Laska  1 , Darin J Erickson  1 , Conrad Iber  2 , Gudrun Kilian  1 , Kyla Wahlstrom  3
Affiliations

Sleep Duration and Weight-Related Behaviors among Adolescents

Rachel Widome et al. Child Obes. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Insufficient sleep is widespread among adolescents and has consequences that extend far beyond hampering day-to-day functioning. It may influence eating and physical activity patterns and be an important determinant of adolescent overweight/obesity status. Methods: We assessed how self-reported sleep duration on school nights was associated with weight-related behaviors (eating, diet, and physical activity) and overweight/obesity at the baseline wave (ninth grade year) of the START study (n = 2134). Results: Fifteen percent of our sample reported optimal sleep duration (8.5-10.0 hours); nonwhites, participants of lower socioeconomic status, and girls were at greater risk for insufficient sleep. Suboptimal sleep was associated with various poor weight-related behaviors such as increased sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, decreased vegetable consumption, and decreased breakfast eating (p < 0.001). Fewer hours of sleep were also associated with less physical activity and an increased likelihood of obesity (p = 0.02 for both associations). Conclusions: The influence of adolescent sleep insufficiency on diet and activity could impact childhood obesity and following chronic disease risk especially if lack of sleep sets the stage for enduring, lifelong, poor, weight-related behavior patterns.

Keywords: adolescence; diet; eating; physical activity; sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

References

    1. Ogden CL, Fryar CD, Hales CM, et al. . Differences in obesity prevalence by demographics and urbanization in US children and adolescents, 2013–2016. JAMA 2018;319:2410–2418 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hales CM, Fryar CD, Carroll MD, et al. . Trends in obesity and severe obesity prevalence in US youth and adults by sex and age, 2007–2008 to 2015–2016. JAMA 2018;319:1723–1725 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Healthy People 2020. [Internet]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Washington, DC: Available at www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/nutrition-and-weight-... Last accessed July22, 2015
    1. Office of the Surgeon General (US), Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), National Institutes of Health (US). The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. Office of the Surgeon General (US): Rockville (MD) 2001. Available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44206 (Last accessed July23, 2015 - PubMed
    1. Chen X, Beydoun MA, Wang Y. Is sleep duration associated with childhood obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2008;16:265–274 - PubMed

Publication types