LAUSR

BACKGROUND Large studies linking adolescents' objectively measured sleep duration and adiposity markers are lacking. AIM To characterize sleep duration and its cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with adiposity markers in adolescence. METHODS Seven-day accelerometry was performed in a cohort of adolescents enrolled in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools trial in Spain at approximately age 12 (1216 adolescents, 49.6% girls), 14 (1026 adolescents, 51.3% girls), and 16 (872 adolescents, 51.7% girls) years. Participants were classified as very short sleepers (VSS; <7 h), short sleepers (SS; 7 to <8 h), or recommended-time sleepers (RTS; 8 to 10 h). Adjusted associations between sleep duration and adiposity markers were analyzed using generalized linear and Poisson models. RESULTS At ∼12 years, 33.7% of adolescents met sleep recommendations, and this percentage decreased with advancing age (22.6% at ∼14 and 18.7% at ∼16 years). Compared with RTS, overweight/obesity prevalence ratios (PR) at ∼12, 14, and 16 years among SS were 1.19 (95%CI 1.09-1.30), 1.41 (95%CI 1.34-1.48), and 0.99 (95%CI 0.77-1.26) and among VSS were 1.30 (95%CI 1.28-1.32), 1.93 (95%CI 1.41-2.64), and 1.32 (95%CI 1.26-1.37). Compared with adolescents who always met sleep recommendations, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was ∼5 times higher in those never meeting recommendations or meeting them only once. Similar trends were observed for waist-to-height ratio (p=0.010) and fat-mass index (p=0.024). CONCLUSION Most adolescents did not meet sleep recommendations. Shorter sleep duration was independently associated with unfavorable adiposity markers, and such adverse impact was cumulative. Health promotion programs should emphasize the importance of good sleep habits.