Insufficient Sleep Duration And Its Association With Breakfast Intake, Overweight/Obesity, Socio-Demographics And Selected Lifestyle Behaviors Among Saudi School Children

Abstract

Objective

Adequate sleep is an important factor for maintaining good health among children. However, there have been few studies reporting on the association of sleep duration with breakfast intake frequency. This study examined the prevalence of nocturnal sleep duration among Saudi children and its association with breakfast intake, screen time, physical activity levels and socio-demographic variables.

Methods

A multistage stratified cluster random sampling technique was used to select 1051 elementary school children in Riyadh. Weight and height were measured and body mass index was computed. The sleep duration, daily breakfast intake frequency, socio-demographic and lifestyle behaviors were assessed using a specifically designed self-reported questionnaire filled by the children’s parents.

Results

Over 71% of the Saudi school children did not attain the recommended sufficient sleep duration at night. Results of logistic regression analysis, adjusted for confounders, exhibited significant associations between longer sleep duration and younger age (aOR=1.12, p=0.046), being female (aOR=1.39, p=0.037), higher father educational levels, daily breakfast intake (aOR=1.44, p=0.049) and lower screen time (aOR for >2 hrs/day=0.69, p=0.033). However, no significant (p> 0.05) association was found for mother education, family income, number of family member in the house, overweight/obesity, or physical activity levels.

Conclusion

The prevalence of insufficient nocturnal sleep among Saudi children was high. Insufficient sleep was associated with breakfast and several important socio-demographic and lifestyle behaviors. The findings of this study support the development of interventions to prevent insufficient sleep and help Saudi children improve their sleeping habits.

Keywords:

• children
• skipping breakfast
• lifestyles
• Saudi Arabia
• socio-demographics

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all of the research assistants who helped in the data collection. Appreciation is also extended to all children and their parents who agreed to take part in this study.

Data Sharing Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article. Any additional data will be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contributions

Study concept and design: HMA and OAO; data collection: HMA, MHA and AMA; statistical analysis: HMA; findings interpretation: HMA, OAO, AMA and MHA; drafting the paper: HMA; critically revising the draft for important intellectual content: OAO, AMA and MHA. All authors critically read and gave final approval for the version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of this work.

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from Kellogg’s company, however, no other relationships or activities that could have influenced the submitted work. The funder has no role in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or drafting the manuscript. Additional funding towards the preparation of this manuscript has been provided by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.