EAP 2019 Congress and MasterCourse

Childhood Obesity and Sleep: Friends or Foes?

Daniela Pacurar 1,2 Livia Brezeanu 1 Oana Elena Iaru 3 Daniela Pacurar 1,2
1Pediatrics, “Grigore Alexandrescu” Emergency Hospital for Children, Bucharest, Romania, Romania
2Pediatrics, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
3Oncopediatrics, “Alexandru Trestioreanu” Oncologic Institute, Romania

Background: Obesity is one of the leading causes of morbidity in children worldwide. Research in the past two decades has focused on determining correlations between obesity and sleeping disorders. Many authors suggest that sleep duration and multiple aspects of sleep patterns, including sleep related breathing disorders (SRBD), are in close association with weight problems in children of all ages.

Objective: The authors aimed to evaluate how overweight/obese children sleep.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study from November 2018 until January 2019 that included overweight (BMI 85th-95th percentile) or obese (BMI ≥95th percentile) 3-18 years old children. The patients were enrolled in the Pediatrics Department of “Grigore Alexandrescu” Children’s Hospital, where they were admitted for unrelated pathology. Parents were asked to fill in a SRBD scale. The obese/overweight children were scored on this scale; scores≥0.33 were considered positive and suggestive of high risk for pediatric sleep-related breathing disorder. The length of the children’s sleep during the day and overnight were also recorded.

Results: Forty five patients were enrolled (53.3% obese). Mean age was 11 years 4 months, sex ratio M/F=1.25/1, 62.2% came from urban areas. The parents declared an average 8.3 hours of night sleep. 60% of the children did not take naps during the day. 6.66% of parents declared their children to have difficulty breathing during sleep, 15.5% perceived periods of apnea during their child’s sleep and 26.6% felt the child was tired in the morning. A significant proportion of patients (26.6%) were scored positive for SRBD, percentages being slightly higher for obese vs overweight children (29 vs.23.8%).

Conclusions: A quarter of the obese/overweight children evaluated were at high risk of sleep related breathing disorder. Addressing obesity from a young age should be expected to improve the quality of life on many levels, including sleep quality and consequently daytime activity.









Powered by Eventact EMS