Short Sleep Duration and Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Analysis in Peru and Patterns in Four Developing Countries

BackgroundWe aimed to describe the patterns of nutritional status and sleep duration in children from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam; to assess the association between short sleep duration and overweight and obesity, and if this was similar among boys and girls in Peru.Methods and FindingsAnalysis of the Young Lives Study, younger cohort, third round. In Ethiopia there were 1,999 observations, 2,011, 2,052 and 2,000 in India, Peru and Vietnam, respectively. Analyses included participants with complete data for sleep duration, BMI, sex and age; missing data: 5.9% (Ethiopia), 4.1% (India), 6.0% (Peru) and 4.5% (Vietnam). Exposure was sleep duration per day: short (ConclusionsChildhood overweight and obesity have different profiles across developing settings. In a sample of children living in resource-limited settings in Peru there is no association between short sleep duration and obesity; the crude association was slightly attenuated by children-related variables but strongly diminished by family-related variables.