Sleep duration and lipid profile in children with obesity

To investigate the association between sleep duration and lipid profile among children with obesity. This cross-sectional analysis used baseline data from a randomized clinical trial aimed at treating pediatric obesity. The study included 101 children aged 7–12 years. Sleep duration was self-reported. Fasting lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG)) was assessed after 12 h of fasting. Generalized linear models, adjusted for sex, age, skin color, and physical activity, were used to evaluate the associations between sleep duration and lipid markers, stratified by obesity severity (non-severe: BMI z-score +2 to +3; severe: BMI z-score>+3). The mean sleep duration was 8.61 ± 1.58 h per day; 48.5% of participants reported sleeping less than 9 h per day. Children with short sleep were more likely to present severe obesity (57.1%; p -value = 0.05). Mean LDL-C was 88.4 ± 25.5 mg/dL, with higher values observed in children with non-severe obesity (92.1 ± 21.7 mg/dL) compared to those with severe obesity (84.2 ± 29.1 mg/dL). A significant inverse association was found between sleep duration and LDL-C in the non-severe obesity group ( β = −4.11; p -value = 0.04). Shorter sleep duration was independently associated with higher LDL-C concentrations in children with non-severe obesity. These findings highlight the potential of promoting healthy sleep habits as part of comprehensive obesity management in pediatric populations. Level III, well-designed cross-sectional analytical cohort study.