Effect of Sleep Extension on Overweight and Learning in Children

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN · Mar 25, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The More2Sleep trial is studying how getting more sleep might help overweight children aged 6 to 9 years improve their weight and learning abilities. The trial involves 300 children who usually sleep less than 9 hours a night. For three months, half of the children will try going to bed 60 to 90 minutes earlier to increase their sleep by about 45 minutes each night, while the other half will not change their sleep habits. Researchers will check in with the families before the study starts, after three months, and again six months later to see how the extra sleep has affected the children's weight and learning.

To participate, children need to be between 6 and 9 years old, slightly overweight or obese, and currently sleeping less than 9 hours a night. Certain health conditions, like sleep disorders or serious chronic illnesses, may prevent a child from joining the study. Families who join can expect to fill out sleep diaries and participate in assessments about weight and learning throughout the study. This trial aims to find out if simply getting more sleep can make a difference in children's health and education.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age: 6-9 years old (inclusive range).
• • Weight status: modestly overweight or obese (equivalent adult BMI of 25 to 35 kg/m2) defined as a sex-specific BMI Z-score between +1 and +3 (inclusive range) using reference standards from the World Health Organization.
• • Sleep duration: sleeping ≤9 h/night on the basis of sleep diaries filled in by the children's parents, based on recommendations by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Health Foundation.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Any genetic or chronic condition that affects growth, metabolism, eating behaviors, cognitive function, or body weight (for example: dwarfism, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, β-thalassemia, hypo-/hyper-thyroidism, type I diabetes).
• • Any sleep-related disorder (for example: obstructive sleep apnea, parasomnias, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome).
• • Regular use of prescribed or over-the-counter medications that influence study out-comes.
• • Irregular school schedule or not consistently sleeping in the same household during the school week.
• • Participation in other research studies.