Association Between Sleep Duration, Obesity, and School Failure Among Adolescents.
Sofie Litsfeldt, Teresa M Ward, Peter Hagell and 1 others
PMID 31973678WHAT IT FOUND
Sleeping less than 7 hours was more common in adolescents aged 13 to 15 with overweight/obesity or school failure.
The study showed links at a single time, not that short sleep caused either problem.
Key findings
01Sleep duration under 7 hours was associated with overweight/obesity, school failure, poorer perceived economic situation, and older age.
02Normal weight students: 7.7% slept under 7 hours; overweight students: 11.5%; obese students: 21.7%.
03Students with no failed subjects: 7.6% slept under 7 hours; with one to two failed subjects: 12.9%; with three or more failed subjects: 21.7%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine causal relationships. Sleep duration was self-reported, which poses a risk of recall bias and social desirability. Only sleep duration on school nights was measured, and sleep quality was not investigated. The study did not control for exercise, diet, ethnicity, cigarette smoking, or alcohol consumption. Some participants did not provide height or weight, so BMI could not be calculated for them. The variables studied explained only a minority of the odds of sleeping under 7 hours.
Declared interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding came from the Queen Silvia Jubilee Fund, the Swedish Insurance Society, Södra Sveriges Sjuksköterskehem (SSSH), the Ebba Danelius Foundation of the Swedish Society of Nursing, the Kempe-Carlgrenska Foundation, the Clas Groschinskys Memorial Fund, the Swedish Sleep Research Society, and Kristianstad University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that short sleep causes obesity or school failure. The study was cross-sectional and did not test whether changing sleep duration changes weight or school outcomes.