Short Sleep Duration and Later Overweight in Infants

OBJECTIVE: To provide further knowledge about the longitudinal association between sleep duration and overweight in infants.

STUDY DESIGN: The data for this study are from the CHILD-SLEEP birth cohort (n = 1679). The sleep data are based on parent-reported total sleep duration collected at 3, 8, 18, and 24 months. For a subgroup of 8-month old participants (n = 350), an actigraph recording was also made. Growth data were derived from the child health clinic records. A logistic regression model was used to study the association between sleep duration and later weight development.

RESULTS: Shorter sleep duration in 3-month-old infants was cross-sectionally associated with lower weight-for-length/height (all P values ≤ .026) and body mass index (all P values ≤ .038). Moreover, short sleep duration at the age of 3 months was associated with greater weight-for-length/height z score at the age of 24 months (aOR 1.56; 95% CI 1.02-2.38) as well as with a predisposition to gain excess weight between 3 and 24 months of age (aOR 2.61; 95% CI 1.75-3.91). No significant associations were found between sleep duration at 8, 18, or 24 months and concurrent or later weight status. Actigraph-measured short night-time sleep duration at the age of 8 months was associated with greater weight-for-length at the age of 24 months (aOR 1.51; 95% CI 1.02-2.23).

CONCLUSIONS: Short total sleep duration at the age of 3 months and short night-time sleep duration at the age of 8 months are associated with the risk of gaining excess weight at 24 months of age.