Abstract

Abstract Introduction It is known short sleep duration adversely affects children’s behavior and physical development. Sleep duration and sleep habit vary substantially in children with different ages, areas and races. However, our understanding on the sleep duration in Chinese children remains limited. The present study investigated the status of sleep durations in Chinese children and explored factors related to sleep loss. Methods A randomized, stratified, multi-stage cluster sampling method encompassed 11420 children in 25 schools from 7 districts in Beijing. Children aged 3 to 14 years were included, and their parents were invited to fill sleep habit related questionnaires about the performance of the last 3 months. Results The final cohort included 4736 boys and 4462 girls with a mean age of 8.8±3.8 years. The mean sleep duration of children ≥12 years of age was 9.4h, which was significantly lower than those < 12 years old (9.7h); this was in agreement with the trend of sleep durations of weekdays. On weekends and holidays, the sleep duration was approximately 10h for most children and similar in all age groups. Gender (male), age (≥12-year group), overweight, and suburban residence were significantly correlated with sleep loss in children (p< 0.001). A significantly high proportion of children with sleep loss displayed sleepiness during sitting and reading (19.1%), in the car (31.4%), in the afternoon (20.7%), and after lunch (17.5%). Conclusion The sleep duration reduced significantly in children ≥12 years of age as compared to younger children in Beijing. Factors such as gender (male), age (≥12-year group), overweight, and suburban residence are related to sleep loss. Children ≥12 years of age older with sleep loss were likely to experience daytime sleepiness. Support This work was supported by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project grant (Z161100000116050 and Z161100003216212) and Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Technology Innovation Project grant (XMLX201701). .

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