Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 6, 2024; 12(1): 86-94
Published online Jan 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i1.86
Interaction between adolescent sleep rhythms and gender in an obese population
Nan-Nan Wu, Guo-Li Yan, Hong-Yu Zhang, Ling Sun, Min Hou, Guang-Ming Xu
Nan-Nan Wu, Min Hou, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin 300222, China
Guo-Li Yan, Hong-Yu Zhang, Guang-Ming Xu, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin 300222, China
Ling Sun, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychology, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300222, China
Co-first authors: Nan-Nan Wu and Guo-Li Yan.
Author contributions: Wu NN and Yan GL contribute equally; Wu NN and Yan GL was responsible for literature design of the study, acquiring and analyzing data from the survey, and writing of the actual manuscript; Zhang HY was responsible for article review and article writing; Zhang HY were responsible for data statistics; Sun L, Hou M and Xu GM were responsible for article revision.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Anding Hospital in Tianjin, No. 2021-42.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict-of-interest statement.
Data sharing statement: Data sharing consent was not obtained.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Guang-Ming Xu, PhD, Chief Physician, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Anding Hospital, No. 13 Liulin Road, Hexi District, Tianjin 300222, China. xugm@tmu.edu.cn
Received: August 29, 2023
Peer-review started: August 29, 2023
First decision: September 13, 2023
Revised: September 27, 2023
Accepted: December 1, 2023
Article in press: December 1, 2023
Published online: January 6, 2024
Processing time: 125 Days and 20.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The obesity rate of adolescents is gradually increasing, which seriously affects their mental health, and sleep plays an important role in adolescent obesity.

AIM

To investigate the relationship between sleep rhythm and obesity among adolescents and further explores the interactive effect of sleep rhythm and gender on adolescent obesity, providing a theoretical basis for developing interventions for adolescent obesity.

METHODS

Research data source Tianjin Mental Health Promotion Program for Students. From April to June 2022, this study selected 14201 students from 13 middle schools in a certain district of Tianjin as the research subject using the convenient cluster sampling method. Among these students, 13374 accepted and completed the survey, with an effective rate of 94.2%.The demographic data and basic information of adolescents, such as height and weight, were collected through a general situation questionnaire. The sleep rhythm of adolescents was evaluated using the reduced version of the morningness-eveningness questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 13374 participants (6629 females, accounting for 49.56%; the average age is 15.21 ± 1.433 years) were analyzed. Among them, the survey showed that 2942 adolescent were obesity, accounting for 22% and 2104 adolescent were overweight, accounting for 15.7%. Among them, 1692 male adolescents are obese, with an obesity rate of 25.1%, higher than 18.9% of female adolescents. There is a statistically significant difference between the three groups (χ2 = 231.522, P < 0.000). The obesity group has the smallest age (14.94 ± 1.442 years), and there is a statistical difference in age among the three groups (F = 69.996, P < 0.000).Obesity rates are higher among individuals who are not-only-child, have residential experience within six months, have family economic poverty, and have evening-type sleep (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis shows a correlation between sleep rhythm and adolescent obesity. Evening-type sleep rhythm can increase the risk of obesity in male adolescents [1.250 (1.067-1.468)], but the effect on female obesity is not remarkable. Further logistic regression analysis in the overall population demonstrates that the interaction between evening-type sleep rhythm and the male gender poses a risk of adolescent obesity [1.122 (1.043-1.208)].

CONCLUSION

Among adolescents, the incidence of obesity in males is higher than in females. Evening-type sleep rhythm plays an important role in male obesity but has no significant effect on female obesity. Progressive analysis suggests an interactive effect of sleep rhythm and gender on adolescent obesity, and the combination of evening-type sleep and the male gender promotes the development of adolescent obesity. In formulating precautions against adolescent obesity, obesity in male adolescents with evening-type sleep should be a critical concern.

Keywords: Adolescent; Obesity; Sleep rhythm; Gender; Interaction

Core Tip: The obesity rates of male adolescents is higher than that of female adolescents, and older adolescents have a protective effect on obesity of different genders. The study shows that sleep rhythm and gender have an interactive effect on adolescent obesity, and the combination of evening-type sleep and male sexuality promotes the development of adolescent obesity. In formulating measures to prevent adolescent obesity, attention should be paid to the obesity problem of male adolescents with evening-type sleep.