Sleep and obesity

Article Outline

• Copyright

Previous studies have shown a relationship between the duration of sleep and the presence of obesity in adults and school age children. In this issue of The Journal, Jiang et al evaluated this relationship in preschool children in China. They found that children reporting less than 9 hours of sleep were more likely to be obese than those with 11 or more hours of sleep. The direction of this relationship remains unclear, as this was a cross-sectional study. In addition, Jiang et al found that children with caregivers who slept less or co-slept with caregivers had less sleep. The fact that this relationship between sleep and obesity is found in young children could suggest approaches to prevent or treat obesity at an early age. It would be useful to consider longitudinal, observational studies of this association and clinical trials to evaluate such clinical interventions.